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SIDE  B5oii53F~ 
tmouth  Street 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


THE  FLAME  AZALEA 


THE  MYSTERIES 
OF  THE  FLOWERS 


BY 

HERBERT  WALDRON  FAULKNER,  PH.  B.,  M.E. 


WITH  EIGHT  PLATES  IN  COLOR  AND  ONE  HUNDRED 
AND  FORTY-THREE  DRAWINGS  BY   THE  AUTHOR 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved,  including  that  of  translation  into 
foreign  languages 


TO  A  FLOWER 

A  Flower  I  found  in  Cornwall,  near  the  Sea, 
Bore  it  away  to  flourish  in  my  home, 
Nurtured  and  tended  it  with  loving  care. 
And  here  its  fragrant  blooms  rejoice  our  hearts, 
Inspire  our  souls,  and  beautify  our  lives. 
To  that  dear  Flower  I  dedicate  my  work. 


H.  W.  F. 


Washington,  Conn., 

January  1,  1917. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

The  Utility  of  Cross-Fertilisation 12 

CHAPTER  II 

PISTILLATE   FLOWERS   AND   STAMINATE   FLOWERS 

Dioecious  Flowers 16 

Asparagus 16 

Devil's  Bit,  or  Blazing  Sun 17 

Jack-in-the-pulpit 18 

Virgin's  Bower 24 

Tall  Meadow-rue 25 

Goafs-beard 26 

Eel  Grass;  Tape  Grass 26 

Monoecious  Flowers 28 

The  Gourd  Family 28 

Wild  Balsam-apple 29 

Arrowhead 30 

CHAPTER  III 

PERFECT   FLOWERS 

Windflower;  Wood-anemone 34 

White  Water-lily 35 

Common  St.-John's-wort 35 

Marsh  St.-John's-wort 35 

Common  Mallow 35 

Hardback;  Steeple-bush 36 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Flowering  Dogwood 36 

The  Spiderwort 36 

Hedge  Bindweed 37 

Marsh  Marigold 40 

Field  Mustard 41 

Common  Elder 41 

Water  Plantain 42 

Yellow  Star  Grass 42 

Virginia  Lungwort 43 

Forget-me-not 43 

Pistils  Longer  than  Stamens 44 

Pink  Azalea 44 

White  or  Clammy  Azalea 45 

Trumpet  Honeysuckle 46 

Great  Laurel 47 

Mountain  Laurel 47 

Horse-Chestnut 48 

Shinleaf 48 

Wake-robin 49 

Blue-eyed  Grass 50 

Swamp  Rose-mallow 50 

Pitcher-plant 51 

Quaker-lady,  or  Bluets 54 

Garden  Geranium 55 

Partridge  Berry 56 

Stamens  and  Pistils  developing  at  different  times      .      .      t      .      .      .  57 

Stigmas  developing  before  stamens 59 

English  Plantain;  Ripple  Grass;  Rib  Grass 59 

Common  Plantain 60 

Greater  Mullein 61 

Common  Figwort 62 

Yellow  Pond-lily 64 

Stamens  developing  before  stigmas 66 


CONTENTS  ix 

PAGE 

\\ild  Geranium;  Cranesbill 66 

Fire- weed;  Great  Willow-herb 67 

Apple;  Pear 68 

Long-flowered  Tobacco 69 

Bouncing  Bet 70 

Night-flowering  Catch-fly 71 

Closed  Gentian;  Fringed  Gentian 73 

Bellflower 77 

Mint  Family 79 

Blue-curl 80 

Polygala  sanguined 81 

CHAPTER  IV 

FLORAL   MECHANISMS 

Turtle-head 84 

The  Larger  Blue  Flag 86 

Trumpet-creeper 88 

Monkey-flower 90 

OswegoTea;  Bee-balm 91 

Garden  Sage 92 

Pale  Spiked  Lobelia ' 94 

Cardinal  Flower 95 

Joe  Pye  Weed 96 

Lion's-foot 98 

Violets  and  Pansies 100 

Nightshade 102 

Downy  False  Foxglove 103 

The  Bean  Family 104 

Ground-nut 107 

Tick  Trefoil 108 

Male  Berry 109 

Mountain  Laurel 112 

Barberry 114 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Poinsettia 116 

Jewel-weed;  Touch-me-not 117 

Insect  Prisons 118 

Dutchman's  Pipe 119 

Milkweed 120 

Spreading  Dogbane 126 

CHAPTER  V 

ORCHIDS 

Pink  Lady's  Slipper;  Moccasin  Flower 133 

Showy  Lady's  Slipper 135 

Ram's-head  Lady's  Slipper 136 

Small  White  Lady's  Slipper 136 

Large  Yellow  Lady's  Slipper 137 

Smaller  Yellow  Lady's  Slipper 137 

Showy  Orchid 137 

Round-leaved  Orchis 140 

The  Habenarias 140 

Smaller  Purple  Fringed  Orchis  .      . .      .  141 

Large  Round-leaved  Orchis 144 

Hooker's  Orchis 144 

Tall  White  Boy  Orchis 145 

Tall  Leafy  Green  Orchis 145 

Small  Green  Orchis;  Tubercled  Orchis 146 

Ragged  Fringed  Orchis 147 

Rattlesnake  Plantain 147 

Lady's  Tresses 149 

Rose  Pogonia;  Snake-mouth  Pogonia        151 

Whorled  Pogonia 152 

Arethusa 153 

Coral  Root 154 

Lily-leaved  Twayblades 154 

Southern  White  Small  Orchis 156 

Grass  Pink                                                                        157 


CONTENTS  xi 

CHAPTER  VI 

THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWEBS 

CHAPTER  VII 

SELF-FERTILISED   FLOWERS  PAGB 

Round-leaved  Mallow 178 

Spanish  Bayonet 181 

CHAPTER  VIII 

EFIORT   AND   ACCOMPLISHMENT 

Thorns  and  Prickles 189 

Burglar  Insurance 192 

Rain  Shelters 193 

Lures  of  Flowers 193 

Insects  and  Their  Favourite  Colours    . 196 

Pollen 198 

CHAPTER  IX 

SEED  SOWING 

Pepper-box  Seeds 205 

Air  Gliders 207 

Airship  Seeds 207 

Tumble  Weeds 209 

Seeds  Carried  by  Water 210 

Seeds  Dispersed  by  Birds  and  Animals 212 

Edible  Fruits  and  Seeds 214 

Poisonous  Fruits 214 

Tramp  Seeds 216 

Catapult  Seeds 219 

Spider-flower 222 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  FLAME  AZALEA  (In  Colors) Frontispiece 

FACING 

THE  GARDEN  POOL 4 

GENEALOGY  OF  JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT  (In  Colors)       ...  18 

THE  VALLISNERIA  (In  Colors) 26 

WILD  IRIS  (In  Colors) 80 

THE  LUPIN  (In  Colors) 104 

THE  BUTTERFLY  WEED  (In  Colors) 126 

NATIVE  ORCHIDS  (In  Colors) 130 

THE  YUCCA  FLOWER  AND  ITS  MOTH 182 

MEXICAN  CACTUS 190 

HONEY  GUIDES  AND  RAIN  SHELTERS  (In  Colors)     .           .  192 


xiii 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


THE  MYSTERIES  OF  THE 
FLOWERS 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

HEN   an  imaginative  child  is 
born  the  Golden  Age  returns  to 
fling  its  glamour  over  all  earthly 
things.    Fairies  and  all  the  little 
people  of  the  mystic  realm  reawaken 
from  their  long  sleep,  infest  once  more 
the  woods  and  dells,  abide  as  of  old  in 
all  the  myriad  flowers,   and  resume  their 
sway  over  the  insect  world.     Old  legends 
become  new  truths  in  their  telling,  old  magic 
renews  its  force  and  charm. 

It  is  neither  a  fortunate  nor  a  happy  state 
to  be  an  only  and  a  lonely  child.  I  remember 
many  dreary  autumn  days  when  I  used  to 


2      MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

flatten  my  little  nose  against  the  window-pane  and 
pray  that  some  of  my  young  comrades  might  come 
to  play  and  enliven  my  loneliness.  But  my  summer 
days  were  bright  and  happy  ones  spent  in  a  lovely 
garden,  where  I  grew  to  rejoice  in  the  gay  flowers 
and  to  find  entertainment  in  watching  the  bees,  the 
butterflies,  and  the  humming-birds  as  they  came 
and  went;  and  I  felt  weird  thrills  when,  at  dusk, 
I  caught  a  hazy  glimpse  of  a  spectral  night-moth 
on  his  rounds. 

Sniffing  at  the  gay  and  sweetly  scented  lilies,  I 
learned  that  flowers  produced  pollen,  as  well  as 
honey,  for  I  found  that  with  it  I  had  unwittingly 
painted  my  face  an  orange-yellow,  and  then  I  was 
told  that  the  bees  carried  this  pollen  from  where 
it  grew  to  the  place  where  it  was  required;  that 
thus,  and  not  otherwise,  the  seeds  were  made,  and, 
without  bees  and  pollen,  there  would  be  no  flowers 
next  years. 

As  I  grew  older  I  extended  my  walks  to  the 
fields  and  woods  and  included  the  wild-flowers  in 
my  affections.  Then  I  tried  to  study  about  them, 
and  to  learn  what  others  had  learned  and  observed. 
But  "Botany,"  as  they  called  the  study,  was  only 
a  naming  and  classifying  of  my  sylvan  friends.  It 
was  as  unsatisfying  as  a  glance  into  a  pastry-cook's 
window.  It  reminded  me  of  a  trip  on  one  of  the 


INTRODUCTION  3 

sight-seeing  cars  where  the  conductor  hurriedly 
announces  through  his  megaphone  the  names  of 
people  who  dwell  in  the  residences  along  the  way. 
I  seemed  to  get  not  so  much  as  a  bowing  acquain- 
tance with  the  passing  flowers;  I  learned  nothing 
of  their  lives  and  habits,  and  gathered  no  gossip 
about  their  large  circle  of  acquaintances  among 
their  insect  guests. 

Only  when  I  came  to  our  native  orchids  and  be- 
gan to  rummage  the  bogs  and  the  books  for  these 
rare  treasures  did  I  find  a  well-recognised  affinity 
between  the  two  great  kingdoms.  I  had  to  travel 
far,  and  do  a  long  novitiate,  before  the  great  mys- 
teries of  the  flowers  were  revealed. 

My  experience,  however,  was  but  history  re- 
peated, for  knowledge  on  the  subject  came  very 
slowly:  nearly  two  centuries  were  consumed  by 
great  naturalists  in  scientific  research  ere  the  great 
and  simple  laws  were  truly  comprehended.  The 
Golden  Age  was  slow  to  pass  away,  and  the  old 
stories  and  legends  about  flowers  and  their  slaves, 
the  insects,  were  long  in  dying;  and  men  seemed 
reluctant  to  question  the  doings  of  Nature  about 
them,  to  investigate  her  conduct,  and  reduce  her 
to  a  scientific  formula. 

From  the  days  of  Father  Adam,  and  for  untold 
centuries,  men  had  sown  their  seeds,  and  gathered 


4      MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

their  crops,  never  asking  why  their  seeds  were 
formed,  nor  how  they  germinated.  They  saw  each 
flower  bear  pollen  and  nectar,  and  beheld  the  bees 
despoil  them  of  their  treasures.  The  farmer  saw 
no  connection  between  the  seed  and  the  pollen, 
between  the  bee  and  the  flower. 

They  did  not  even  know,  though  some  very  early 
philosophers  seem  to  have  suspected,  that  a  seed 
is  formed  of  two  vegetable  products,  the  yellow 
pollen,  and  the  soft  green  bead  or  ovule,  just  as  a 
crystal  in  chemistry  is  produced  by  the  union  of 
two  chemical  products,  an  acid  and  a  base. 

Considering  the  long  years  that  went  before,  it 
seems  quite  recent  that  in  1632  an  English  nat- 
uralist, Nehemiah  Grew,  announced  as  his  discovery 
that,  in  order  that  a  seed  may  form,  the  pollen  of 
a  flower  must  touch  its  ovule.  Without  such  con- 
tact the  ovule  would  never  develop  into  a  seed, 
but  would  wither  and  come  to  nought.  We  know 
this  truth  so  well  now  that  it  seems  strange  that 
there  was  ever  much  mystery  about  it;  yet  this 
theory  of  Grew  was  then  so  novel  that  scientists  of 
his  time  were  reluctant  to  accept  it  unreservedly. 

In  1735,  however,  the  great  naturalist,  Linnaeus, 
reaffirmed  the  theory  and  published  numerous  con- 
clusive proofs  of  his  own;  and  thus  some  progress 
was  made  toward  the  unveiling  of  the  mysteries  of 


THE  GARDEN  POOL 


INTRODUCTION 


SELF-FERTILI- 
SATION 

Theory   of   Grew, 
1682 


the  flowers.    We  all,  of  course,  are 

aware  that  the  little  ovule  referred 

to  is  usually  hidden  in  a  receptacle 

resembling  a  vase  with  a  long  neck. 

This   receptacle   is   known  as   the 

"pistil,"  its  neck  as  the  "style,"  and 

the   receptive   part   above   as   the 

"stigma."    The  pollen  we  have  seen 

growing  in  lilies,  in  tiny  pods 
upon    long    slender     supports. 
The  support  is  called  the  "fila- 
ment"; the  pod,  or  pollen  box, 
the   "anther,"  and  the  two  to- 
gether are  named  the  "stamen." 
Above  is  given  a  section  of  a 
flower,  showing  the  little  ovule 
its  vase,  and  the  pollen  falling 

-  from  its  box.    And  here  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  pollen 
falls  directly  from  the  an- 

-  thers  upon  the  open  stigma 
— as    Nehemiah    Grew   ex- 
plained in  his  theory,  which 
was  accepted  and  held  for 
more  than  half  a  century  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  there 

TULIP-TREE  FLOWER 

Anthers  turned  outward  Were   Certain  CaSCS  to  which 


TRILLIUM 

Stigma  above  Stamens 


m 


6      MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

it  could  not  possibly  apply.  Thus,  some  flowers 
have  pistils  much  longer  than  the  stamens,  so  that 
the  pollen  cannot  possibly  fall  upward  onto  the 
stigma,  as  in  the  sketch  of  a  trillium  flower.  Also, 
there  are  flowers  whose  anthers  open  away  from 
the  centre  of  the  flower  and,  shedding  the  pollen 
outward,  stand  as  a  barrier  between  it  and  the 
stigma,  as  in  the  flower  of  the  tulip-tree.  Yet,  in 
spite  of  these  objections,  the  theory  of  Grew  was 
the  best  so  far  devised  and  was  accepted  in  prin- 
ciple, for  it  explained  the  mystery  of  the  pollen 
and  its  usefulness;  but  no  satisfactory  reason  had 
yet  been  given  for  the  existence  of  the  colour, 
fragrance,  and  nectar,  nor  their  usefulness  in  the 
economy  of  the  life  of  the  plant.  The  mystery 
hanging  about  them  was  all  the  more  enshrouded 
because  great  numbers  of  flowers  accomplished 
their  mission  though  deprived  of  these  endowments. 
Another  half -century  rolled  by  ere  new  light 
was  thrown  on  the  question,  when  at  length  a  Ger- 
man schoolmaster,  Christian  Conrad  Sprengel,  ob- 
served that  the  bees  and  insects  seemed  to  prefer 
those  flowers  which  possess  colour,  honey,  and  per- 
fume, and  neglect  such  as  are  devoid  of  them.  In 
1787  he  published  an  admirable  volume  to  prove 
that,  in  the  former  flowers,  the  insects  transport 
the  pollen  from  stamens  to  pistil,  and  in  the  latter 
this  service  is  performed  by  the  wind. 


INTRODUCTION  7 

This  theory  of  Sprengel's  was  built  upon  the  dis- 
coveries of  Grew  and  Linnaeus,  but  went  much 
farther  to  explain  the  "sweet  reasonableness"  of 
the  flowers.    It  was  a  great  advance  in  that  it  ex- 
plained the  purpose  of  these  lures  of  the  flowers 
which  make  them  so  much  beloved  by  man  and  bee. 
The  accompanying  sketch,  a  section  of  a  flower, 
shows  us  how  Sprengel  conceived 
the  work  of  the  bee  was  performed. 
We  see  a  bumblebee  in  the  act  of 
seeking  honey,  and  unintentionally 
rubbing  the  pollen  off  the  anthers 
and    bearing    it    to    the    stigma. 
Thus  was  I  taught  in  our  home-   INSECT  FERTILI- 
garden  to  understand  the  work  of   TheorySAorf10sprengei, 
the    bees,    and    I    believe    many 
people  still  understand  it  so. 

Sprengel's  theory  was  a  new  and  startling  one 
based  upon  countless  observations  and  experiments 
— a  very  beautiful  theory  which  explained  the  mys- 
terious purpose  of  the  lure  of  the  flowers.  It  at- 
tracted much  attention,  aroused  much  discussion 
among  savants,  but  was  finally  doomed  to  oblivion 
and  its  discoverer  to  disappointment  and  chagrin. 
He  had  penetrated  only  half  the  mystery  and  dis- 
cerned only  half  the  truth. 

The  theory  explained  the  action  of  many  insects 
and  flowers,  but  yet  many  cases  were  found  to 


8      MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

which  it  obviously  could  not  apply.  Instances  were 
pointed  out  where  flowers  bore  stamens  and  no 
pistils,  or  pistils  and  no  stamens.  Others  proved 
to  ripen  and  shed  their  pollen  before  their  pistils 
were  ripe  to  receive  it.  Others  had  their  pollen 
concealed  in  little  traps  which  closed  when  the 


Strawberry 


Cranesbill 

CROSS-FERTILISATION 
Theory  of  Darwin,  1859 


Rose 
Pogonia 


bee  entered,  and  opened  only  when  he  withdrew 
and  dusted  him  with  a  golden  shower  when  too 
late  for  him  to  carry  it  to  the  pistil.  In  the  sketch 
are  shown  three  flowers  embodying  the  objections 
to  the  theory  of  Sprengel. 

So  the  half-truth  was  rejected  as  wholly  dis- 
proved, the  theory  of  Sprengel  was  discredited, 
and  the  mysteries  of  the  flowers  remained  obscure 
for  nearly  another  hundred  years. 

Grew  and  Sprengel  had  partly  unwrapped  the 


INTRODUCTION  9 

veils  enshrouding  the  truth,  but  Darwin,  in  1859, 
lifted  them  completely  away.  In  a  book  that  year 
published  he  showed  conclusively,  and  beyond  any 
doubt,  that  not  only  did  the  bees  and  insects  carry 
the  pollen  of  flowers,  but  that  they  carried  it  from 
the  anthers  of  one  flower  to  the  pistil  of  another; 
that  this  plan  gave  vigour  and  adaptability  to  the 
species,  and  that  many  flowers  possessed  ingenious 
mechanisms  to  protect  their  stigmas  from  the  touch 
of  their  own  pollen,  and  to  insure  the  transporta- 
tion of  it  to  another  flower. 

This  Darwin  called  "cross-fertilisation,"  and  he 
was  able  to  prove  that  this  great  scheme  and  pur- 
pose pervaded  the  whole  realm  of  the  Floral  King- 
dom. This  was  the  great  Mystery  of  the  Flowers 
which  Nature  had  at  last  revealed. 

Since  Darwin's  theory  of  cross-fertilisation  was 
announced  many  students  have  investigated,  with 
powerful  microscopes,  the  action  of  the  pollen  after 
it  reaches  the  stigma  of  a  flower,  and  have  restricted 
to  this  action  the  term  "fertilisation" ;  the  bringing 
of  the  pollen  and  placing  it  upon  the  stigma  they 
call  "pollination."  But  this  latter  is  an  awkward 
and  unfamiliar  word,  and,  as  none  can  deny  that 
cross-pollination  ultimately  brings  about  cross-fer- 
tilisation, in  the  earlier  part  of  our  studies  we  will 
stick  to  the  older  and  more  familiar  term,  using  it  in 


10    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


a  sense  to  include  both  pollination  and  fertilisation. 
The  mechanism  of  the  flowers  as  explained  by 
Darwin  is  shown  by  the  sketch,  where  bees  are  visit- 
ing several  flowers  in  succes- 
sion and  carrying  the  pollen 
from  the  stamens  of  one  to 
the  pistil  of  the  next. 

For  my  own  part  I  never 
regretted  the  changed  point 
of  view,  for  I  found  just  as 
much  food  for  my  imagina- 
tion in  studying  the  flowers 
and  the  insects  as  they  are, 
eager,  living  things,  striving 
as  we  strive,  flourishing  in 
spite  of  difficulties,  and  at- 
taining to  the  beauty  of  per- 
fect living.  And  for  me  the  charm  of  some  old 
legend  concerning  a  flower  was  but  enhanced  when, 
in  addition  to  it,  I  was  able  to  unravel  some  secret 
of  its  inner  life,  hidden  in  the  fragrant  recesses  of 
its  heart. 

Instead  of  a  fairy  world,  the  realm  of  the  flowers 
may  be  said  rather  to  resemble  a  busy  modern  town, 
full  of  merchants,  vying  with  one  another  in  the 
sale  of  their  wares,  and  of  buyers  lured  and  tempted 
to  traffic. 


CRANESBILL 


INTRODUCTION  11 

The  simile  is  not  merely  superficial,  and  we  will 
trace  the  resemblance  deeper.  The  flowers  are  the 
shop-keepers  who  deal  in  nectar  and  in  pollen,  and 
these  they  advertise  in  gaudy,  flaming  placards 
about  their  entrances — blotches  and  streaks  of  vivid 
colour — honey  guides,  we  call  them — which  are 
veritable  posters  to  attract  the  eye  from  afar.  Then, 
to  greet  the  coming  purchaser,  they  put  forth  easy 
landing-stages,  for  their  guests  are  living  aeroplanes 
who  must  furl  their  wings  before  entering.  Then, 
too,  the  merchandise  must  be  kept  away  from  dew 
and  rain,  so  the  flowers  set  up  ingenious  rain  shelters 
of  varied  form.  Lastly,  there  must  be  protection 
against  unwelcome  insects,  veritable  shop-lifters, 
and  for  these  the  flowers  provide  bristles,  traps, 
and  devices  which  make  theft  almost  out  of  the 
question.  The  flowers  are  so  astute  in  their  com- 
petition for  trade,  so  cunning  in  their  ways  of  win- 
ning it,  so  like  clever  tradesmen,  in  fact,  that  we 
find  much  of  human  interest  in  watching  their  trade 
competition,  and  thus  discover  a  new  bond  of  sym- 
pathy between  their  little  lives  and  ours. 

We  who  live  close  to  nature  and  love  the  plants 
of  the  garden  and  the  wild  wood,  discover  that  they 
are  living  beings  like  ourselves,  whose  lives  are 
shaped  by  the  same  great  laws. 

They  first  strive  to  live  their  own  lives  by  seeking 


12    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

food  and  drink,  and  their  "place  in  the  sun."  Thus 
they  fight  the  struggle  for  existence. 

Secondly,  they  proceed  to  bear  flowers  and  pro- 
duce seeds  in  great  quantity,  in  order  that  their 
family  may  continue. 

Thirdly,  they  make  a  distinct  effort  to  strengthen 
and  improve  their  offspring,  so  that  their  race  may 
survive.  This  we  might  call  eugenics,  and  experi- 
ments show  that  cross-fertilisation  is  a  very  impor- 
tant factor  to  that  end.  If  the  individuals  die  there 
will  be  no  race,  but  if  the  race  deteriorates  there 
will  ultimately  be  no  more  individuals. 

Granting,  then,  that  Darwin  was  correct  in  as- 
serting that  there  exists  a  system  prevalent  among 
the  flowers,  which  he  called  cross-fertilisation,  let  us 
examine  as  many  flowers  as  we  can  and  discover : 

First,  what  benefit  accrues  to  the  race  of  plants 
by  this  system;  second,  by  what  various  means  is 
the  pollen  transferred  from  flower  to  flower;  and, 
third,  are  all  flowers  always  cross-fertilised,  or  are 
some  of  them,  sometimes,  self-fertilised,  and,  if  so, 
by  what  means. 

THE   UTILITY   OF   CROSS-FERTILISATION 

Plants  are  not  restricted  to  a  well-made  garden, 
in  a  mild  climate,  generously  watered  and  with  rich 
soil.  They  grow  and  flourish  in  every  zone  from 


INTRODUCTION  13 

the  torrid  to  the  polar,  in  every  soil  from  rich  river- 
beds to  sandy  deserts,  and  under  varying  degrees 
of  nurture  from  oozy  swamps  to  arid  deserts. 

Plants  have  to  fit  themselves  to  these  various  loca- 
tions, and  to  the  differences  of  season,  or  else  they 
must  die.  To  survive  they  must  be  able  constantly 
to  adjust  themselves  to  changing  conditions.  Now 
it  has  been  shown  by  thousands  of  experiments  that 
cross-fertilisation  produces  very  numerous  and 
thrifty  seedlings,  part  of  which  may  so  differ  from 
either  parent  that  they  will  survive  where  either 
parent  might  not.  Cross-fertilisation  so  improves 
the  vigour  and  the  adaptability  of  the  young  plants 
that  they  may  spread  into  new  districts  and  climates, 
surviving  and  increasing  in  numbers  in  spite  of  the 
great  struggle  they  must  wage. 

Cross-fertilisation,  then,  is  of  vital  and  over- 
whelming importance,  which  the  plants  seem  to  un- 
derstand. Consequently  great  pains  and  ingenuity 
are  expended  to  accomplish  this  desideratum. 

There  are  various  methods  for  procuring  cross- 
fertilisation,  which  may  be  grouped  as  follows : 

Staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  (direcious 

and  monoecious). 
Prepotence  of  foreign  pollen  over  that  of 

home  production. 


14    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

Position  of  stamen  and  pistil,  including 
dimorphic  and  trimorphic  flowers. 

Stamens  and  pistils  developing  at  dif- 
ferent times,  called  "dichogamous." 

Various  mechanical  devices  which  aid 
cross-fertilisation  and  preclude  self- 
fertilisation. 

These  methods  we  will  now  take  up  in  the  order 
stated. 


CHAPTER  II 


PISTILLATE  FLOWERS  AND  STAMINATE  FLOWERS 

T  is  self-evident  that  flowers 
wholly  pistillate  or  wholly 
staminate   run   no   risk  of 
self -fertilisation ;  and  nature 
adopted  this  simple  plan  in 
the  case  of  most  of  our  trees, 
such  as  pines,  beeches,  and 
birches,  whose  pollen  is  car- 
ried  by  the  wind,   and   in 
many  plants,  as  the  clematis, 
Virginia     strawberry,     the 
flowering  spurge,  and  Jack- 
in-the-Pulpit,  whose  pollen 
is  transported  by  insects. 
Trees  or  plants  which  bear  the 
pistillate  or  the  staminate  flowers 
separately  are  said  to  have  the 
"dioecious  habit,"  while  those  which  bear  both  kinds 
of  flowers  on  one  plant  follow  the  "monoecious." 

15 


16    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


DICECIOUS  FLOWERS 

The  flowers  of  the  willow, 
spoken  of  as  catkins  or  pussy- 
willows, which  are  among  the 
first  growing  things  to  announce 
the  impulse  of  spring,  are  dis- 
covered to  consist  in  the  one  case 
of  merely  two  stamens  and  in  the 
other  of  a  pistil,  springing  from 
the  axil  of  a  small,  furry  bract 
which  has  shielded  them  from  the 
winter  cold.  They  lure  the  bee  for  the  same  reason 
that  they  attract  us,  not  because  of  any  charm  of 
colour,  but  because  there  are  no  other  flowers  to 
compete  with  them.  Some  willows  are  monoecious. 


Pistillate 
Flower 

WILLOW    CATKINS 


ASPARAGUS 

When  the  garden  asparagus  has  gone  to  seed  it 
will  be  noted  that  some  plants  are  full  of  pretty, 
red  berries,  while  others  are  com- 
pletely sterile.  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  some  bear  pistillate  and 
others  staminate  flowers.  Very  in- 
conspicuous they  are,  owing  to 
their  greenish  colour  and  small 
size,  but  the  staminate  flower  is  the  ASPARAGUS 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES    17 

larger  of  the  two,  to  attract  the  insect  to  it  first,  in 
order  to  give  him  a  charge  of  pollen.  It  resembles 
a  little  lily,  and  bears  at  its  centre  an  undeveloped 
pistil.  The  pistillate  flower  opens  less  widely,  and 
therefore  resembles  a  small  tulip,  with  two  cleft 
pistils  and  the  very  large  ovary  within.  At  the  base 
of  this  we  find  six  minute  and  unformed  stamens; 
so  we  see  that  each  flower  is  trying  to  become  a 
perfect  flower ;  that  the  asparagus  is  still  in  a  state 
of  development  and  may  in  course  of  time  abandon 
the  dioecious  habit  and  succeed  in  producing  flowers 
with  both  pistils  and  stamens;  or  it  may  now  be 
degenerating  and  losing  the  power  to  produce  per- 
fect flowers. 

DEVII/S  BIT,  OR  BLAZING  STAR 
(Chamcelirium  luteum) 

A    somewhat    rare    flower,  DEVIL- s  BIT 

growing  in  moist  soil  and 
blooming  in  May  and  June.  The  staminate 
flowers — with  six  stamens  and  six  narrow,  cream- 
white  petals — grow  in  a  long,  gracefully  bending 
spike.  The  pistillate  flowers — of  a  greenish  white, 
consisting  of  an  ovary  with  its  pistils  three-parted, 
and  six  narrow  petals — are  crowded  close  in  a  short, 
stiff  spike,  easily  distinguished  afar  off  from  its 
companion  flower.  The  two  kinds  of  plants  are 


18    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

often  widely  separated  from  each  other,  but  the 
unerring  instinct  of  their  insect  affinity  is  a  sure 
guide  to  bring  about  cross-fertilisation.  These 
flowers  are  pleasantly  fragrant,  and  thus  attract 
many  small  beetles  and  flies,  which  become  en- 
tangled in  the  maze  of  the  stem  and  the  petals  of 
the  flowery  plume.  On  one  specimen  were  dis- 
covered a  brown  creature  resembling  a  small  scor- 
pion, several  ants,  one  very  small  beetle  and  six 
"snapping  bugs."  Since  these  latter  were  the  most 
numerous  and  the  best  on  the  wing,  I  presume  that 
these  are  the  ones  that  do  the  most  of  the  work  in 
carrying  the  pollen. 

I  kept  a  few  of  these  insects  fasting  over  night, 
and  when  they  were  given  fresh  flowers  in  the 
morning  they  immediately  fell  ravenously  upon 
the  pollen  and  devoured  some,  while  dusting  their 
heads  and  antennae  with  a  goodly  supply. 

I  am  unable  to  discover,  or  even  to  conjecture, 
the  reason  for  giving  to  this  dainty  flower  such  a 
title  as  it  bears.  To  the  botanist  it  is  always  an 
interesting  "find." 

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT — A  riscema  triphyllum 
April-July 

This  is  a  native  of  America  resembling  in  appear- 
ance the  plant  known  in  England  under  the  name 


GENEALOGY  OF  JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES     19 

of  "Lords  and  Ladies"  (Arum  maculatum).  The 
flowers  of  the  two  countries  are,  however,  not 
identical,  either  in  form  or  in  their  modes  of  secur- 
ing cross-fertilisation,  and  the  distinction  should 
be  fully  explained  as  illustrating  a  phase  in  the 
development  of  plant  life. 

The  Lords  and  Ladies  bears  upon  the  spadix  a 
group  of  staminate  flowers,  closely  crowded  to- 
gether, and  below  them  a  similar  group  of  pistillate 
flowers:  therefore  the  plant  should  be  classed  as 
monoecious.  Jack-in- the-Pulpit  (and  we  might  say 
"Jill-in-the-Pulpit"!)  bears  either  stamens  or  pis- 
tils ;  hence  it  is  dioecious. 

Glancing  at  the  plate  showing  the  genealogy  of 
Jack-in-the-Pulpit  and  comparing  the  three  sec- 
tional drawings,  we  see  in  Jack-in-the-Pulpit  that 
the  hood,  or  spathe,  tapers  uniformly  and  droops 
far  out  over  the  opening,  as  the  rain  shelter.  Small 
purplish  stamens  cluster  at  the  base  of  the  spadix 
in  the  one,  and  beady  little  pistils  upon  that  of  the 
other  flower.  Notice  that  there  is  a  considerable 
space  at  the  base  of  the  staminate  flower  where 
pollen  accumulates,  and  where  the  insects  wallow 
in  it.  But  in  the  other  flower  the  pistils  nearly  fill 
this  space,  so  that  insects,  bringing  pollen,  must 
necessarily  rub  against  the  stigmas.  Squeezing 
through  here  in  search  of  nectar,  they  are  often 


20    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

caught  and  held  prisoners  to  the  end  of  their  lives. 
I  have  torn  open  many  flowers  and  have  found  dead 
insects  in  the  pistil-bearing  flowers  only;  these 
were  mostly  specimens  of  the  Fungus-Fly,  or 
MycetopTulia,  shown  greatly  enlarged  in  the  draw- 
ing. 

Now,  turning  to  the  section  of  a  flower  of  the 
Lords  and  Ladies,  we  see  that  the  spathe  swells 
out  at  the  base  and  contracts  again,  forming  a  small 
room  around  the  base  of  the  spadix,  thence  rising 
into  a  pointed  hood  much  more  open  than  that  of 
Jack,  in  spite  of  the  moister  climate  of  England. 
Low  upon  the  spadix  is  a  group  of  pistils;  next 
above  comes  another  of  stamens;  and  above  these, 
again,  a  ring  of  stiff  hairs,  pointing  outward  and 
downward,  at  the  narrow  part  of  the  hood,  so  as 
to  form  a  trap  to  admit  insects  from  outside  but 
to  keep  them  prisoners  within.  Also,  these  hairs 
prevent  the  insect  from  crawling  down  the  spadix, 
but  guide  him  to  enter  by  the  outer  wall,  so  that 
he  cannot  reach  the  staminate  flowers  first,  but  must 
pass  down  to  the  bottom,  crawl  up  over  the  stigmas, 
leaving  on  them  any  pollen  he  has  brought,  and 
then  seek  fresh  pollen  from  the  anthers.  For  a 
time,  however,  he  will  search  in  vain,  for  the  stamens 
do  not  ripen  till  several  days  after  the  pistils,  and 
the  unwilling  guest  must  remain  a  prisoner,  com- 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES    21 

fortably  housed  and  well-fed,  till  the  pollen  is  ready 
for  delivery,  at  which  time  the  hairs  wither  and 
fall,  the  prison  bars  vanish,  and  the  insect  may  climb 
out  over  the  stamens  and  escape  with  some  pollen; 
only  to  repeat  his  house-breaking,  be  caught  and 
serve  another  term. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  habits  and  doings  of  the 
American  and  the  English  Arum  are  very  different, 
and  we  are  led  to  wonder  which  of  the  two  is  the 
older  type.  .We  will  find  a  clue  to  the  answer  in 
closer  scrutiny  of  Jack-in-the-Pulpit ;  for  among 
the  pistillate  flowers  we  will  often  find  one  or  two 
little  stamens  popping  out  in  unexpected  places 
upon  the  spadix  and  trying  vainly  to  furnish  pol- 
len for  all  the  clustered  pistils.  These  unexpected 
and  useless  little  stamens  show  us  that  Jack-in- 
the-Pulpit  has  an  hereditary  tendency  to  produce 
perfect  flowers;  that  he  harks  back  to  early  an- 
cestors like  the  Lords  and  Ladies  of  the  Old  Coun- 
try, and  still,  once  in  a  while,  reverts  to  his  primi- 
tive ways. 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit  is  a  degraded  lily  which  has 
lost  its  petals,  its  colour,  and  finally,  in  America, 
has  gone  back  to  the  dioecious  habit ;  and  it  so  hap- 
pens that  all  the  intermediate  stages  of  its  descent 
may  be  followed  in  living  specimens.  The  proud 
ancestor  of  the  line,  the  lily,  bears  a  showy,  six- 


22     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

parted  corolla,  enclosing  six  stamens  and  a  pistil. 
Now,  let  us  examine  a  spike  of  the  sweet  flag 
(Acorus  calamus)  with  a  powerful  glass,  and  we 
shall  discover  a  myriad  of  minute  lilies  packed 
close  together.  Each  floret  has  the  complete  struc- 
ture of  a  lily,  though  suffering  from  the  close  prox- 
imity of  its  neighbours.  The  petals  have  been  re- 
duced to  mere  scales,  each  one  protecting  a  stamen. 
The  sketch  represents  a  floret  highly  magnified. 
The  reason  for  this  crowding  together  of  the  little 
lily  flowers  into  a  close  spadix  is  easy  to  discover. 
The  plants  grow  near  the  water  and  have  to  de- 
pend upon  the  minute  gnats,  beetles  and  other  tiny 
insects  which  swarm  about  the  pools,  and  which 
are  indifferent  to  an  appeal  to  their  colour  sense. 
And  flowers  small  enough  to  receive  such  midgets 
must  get  closely  together,  and  send  forth  their  lure 
in  union — they  must  do  team  work  if  they  are  to 
succeed  at  all;  hence  the  crowded  spadix,  with  its 
multitude  of  florets,  over  which  the  visitors  may 
wander  at  will. 

Now  examine  the  spadix  of  a  water  arum  (Calla 
palustris)  and  you  will  discover  that  the  florets  have 
lost  their  petals,  and  not  all  of  them  are  perfect 
flowers.  The  lower  ones  are  both  staminate  and 
pistillate,  but  the  upper  ones  often  are  staminate 
only. 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES    23 

The  white  calla,  or  Richardia,  has  gone  another 
step,  as  we  shall  find  all  the  upper  portion  of  its 
spathe  to  be  covered  with  stamens,  while  below  are 
clustered  numerous  ovaries  accompanied  by  an  un- 
certain number  of  stamens. 

The  English  Lords  and  Ladies  shows  the  com- 
plete separation  of  stamens  and  pistils,  the  former 
growing  upon  the  middle  portion  of  the  spadix  and 
the  latter  below;  in  addition,  the  fringe  of  hair 
has  developed  to  entrap  the  insects,  and  the  upper 
tip  of  the  spadix  has  become  a  smooth  perch  for 
them  to  alight  upon. 

The  change  from  this  state  to  that  of  the  Jack- 
in-the-Pulpit  seems  great  and  sudden.  To  produce 
stamens  and  pistils  in  the  same  plant,  and  then  to 
change  the  plan  and  ever  after  grow  stamens  on 
one  plant  and  pistils  on  another  looks  revolutionary 
at  the  first  glance.  But  consider  that  you  have  only 
to  suppress  the  stamens  on  a  plant  of  the  Lords 
and  Ladies,  and  there  you  have  a  pistil-bearing 
plant,  or  the  reverse.  Moreover,  the  stamens  do 
not  forever  stay  suppressed  and  are  occasionally 
cropping  out  again  to  show  us  that  Jack-in-the- 
Pulpit  has  not  so  very  long  followed  the  dioecious 
habit.* 

*  For  fuller  description  of  the  ancestry  of  Jack-in-the-Pulpit,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Flowers  and  Their  Pedigree,  by  Grant  Allen, 


24    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


The  grape,  also,  seems  to  be  passing  through  a 
similar  transition,  and  to  be  taking  its  time  about 
it.  -In  "Bible  Times" — some  thousands  of  years 
ago — the  vine-dressers  had  much  to  say  about  the 
"fruitful"  and  the  "unfruitful" 
vine:  a  perversity  that  they  could 
only  deplore  but  not  explain.  To- 
day the  microscope  shows  us  that 
some  vines  bear  perfect  flowers  and 
consequently  fruit,  while  others  re- 
tain a  semi-dioecious  trick  of  put- 
ting forth  staminate  flowers  and 
are  consequently  sterile  of  fruit. 
I  discovered  two  vines  of  the  latter 
sort  in  our  vicinity — a  puzzle  to 
the  natives — which  each  year  put 
forth  quantities  of  blossoms  but 
never  bore  a  grape,  even  in  a 
"grape  year."  The  adjoining  sketch  will  show 
the  difference  between  the  sterile  and  the  fertile 
blossoms. 

VIRGIN'S  BOWER — Clematis  virginiand 
July-August 

A  lovely  climbing  vine,  profusely  covered  with 
bunches  of  white,   fragrant  flowers  which,  after 


GRAPE   FLOWERS 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES     25 

they  have  faded,  seem  to  return  again  in  October 
as  fluffy,  filmy  things,  ghosts  of  the  dead  flowers 
of  summer.  Staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  grow 
on  separate  plants,  but  the  latter  have  the  curious 
habit  of  producing  sterile  stamens  along  with  the 
pistils,  which  may  indicate  a  tendency  or  an  aspira- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  plant  ultimately  to  produce 
perfect  flowers.  The  pollen  is  carried  by  bees,  bee- 
flies  (Bombilius),  and  the  bright-coloured  flies  of 
the  Syrphidce;  and  at  night  their  white  blooms  and 
heavy  perfume  attract  numberless  small  white 
moths. 

TALL  MEADOW-RUE — Thalictrum  polygamum 
July-August 

The  tall  meadow-rue,  shown  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter,  is  a  dignified  and  decorative  plant  of  the 
same  family,  the  Crowfoot,  with  flowers  somewhat 
similar.  Like  the  clematis,  the  flowers  of  the  tall 
meadow-rue  are  dioacious,  and  the  pistillate  blos- 
soms also  sometimes  bear  stamens;  but  in  this  case 
they  are  fertile,  pollen-bearing  stamens,  making 
such  flowers  perfect.  This  shows  that  the  rue  is 
just  a  little  higher  in  the  scale  of  development  than 
the  clematis,  and  a  little  nearer  to  the  ideal  flower- 
ing plant. 


26    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

GOAT'S-BEARD — Aruncus  Sylvester 
May -July 

This  is  a  plant  flourishing  in  New  York  and 
southward.  Its  flowers,  minute  and  yellowish- 
white,  are  crowded  upon  small  spikes,  and  these 
latter  are  clustered  together  into  a  large,  compound 
spike.  This  is  classified  as  belonging  to  the  Rose 
family;  but  it  is  an  exception  to  the  general  rule 
of  that  family  in  that  the  staminate  flowers  grow 
on  one  plant  and  the  pistillate  on  another. 

EEL   GRASS;   TAPE   GRASS — Fallisncria   spiralis 
August 

Though  there  are  many  staminate  and  pistillate 
flowers  growing  on  separate  plants,  it  is  quite 
unique  to  find  any  of  the  former  which  break  loose 
from  their  stems,  skip  over 
and  snuggle  beside  the  lat- 
ter and  offer  a  gift  of  pollen. 
Yet  this  extraordinary  con- 

VALLISNERIA  .  J 

duct  is  just  what  is  to  be 

found  in  the  Vallisneria.  Being  a  water-plant, 
the  staminate  flower  swims  to  its  mate,  and  thus 
might  be  called  the  Leander  of  the  Flowery 
Kingdom. 

It  is  very  common  in  lakes  and  rivers.  Rooted 
firmly  to  the  bottom,  its  long,  narrow  leaves  swing 


/ 


JM7/ 


..- 


THE  VALLISNERIA 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES    27 

in  the  current  and  often  entangle  our  oars.  The 
pistillate  flower-buds  rise  to  the  surface  on  ex- 
ceedingly long  and  slender  stalks,  varying  in  length 
according  to  the  depth  of  water,  and  are  found 
singly  in  a  tubular  spathe.  The  calyx  is  three- 
parted,  with  a  long  tube,  and  there  are  three  stig- 
mas, each  with  two  tubes.  The  flower  is  shown  in 
the  accompanying  figure.  The  staminate  flowers 
grow  crowded  close  together  in  an  ovate,  three- 
valved  spathe,  mounted  upon  a  very  short  stalk. 
At  the  proper  time  these  flowers  are  set  free  and 
break  loose  from  their  parent  stem.  Since  they 
are  lighter  than  the  water,  they  rise  to  the  surface 
and  are  carried  by  the  shifting  currents  to  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  pistillate  flowers,  and  shed  their  pollen, 
some  of  which  is  sure  to  reach  the  awaiting  stigmas. 
Now  another  curious  movement  occurs.  As  soon 
as  the  pistillate  flowers  have  become  fertilised  their 
long  stems  curl  into  spirals,  drawing  them  down 
into  the  depths  of  the  water  where  they  perfect  and 
shed  their  seeds. 

The  foregoing  list  of  dioecious  flowers  is  very 
small  and  incomplete,  but  will  suffice  to  show  that 
the  habit  is  alike  common  to  stately  trees,  aspiring 
vines,  and  humble  herbs,  and  the  descriptions  and 
diagrams  will  prove  that  the  crude  and  simple 


28    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

flowers  are  yet  marked  with  strong  character,  and 
while  possessing  little  beauty  are  yet  not  devoid  of 
ingenuity  in  mechanism. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  examine  as  many  as 
possible  of  the  other  class. 

MONCECIOUS  FLOWERS 
THE  GOURD  FAMILY 

One  of  my  childish  delights  in  the  garden  was 
to  plant,  each  year,  a  few  gourd  seeds  and  watch 
the  vines  climb  rapidly,  and  wonder  what  strange 
variety  and  quaint  form  of  fruit  they  would  give 
me ;  and  thus  I  discovered  that  certain  flowers  bore 
no  fruit  at  all,  while  others,  with  a  very  evident 

"set"  below  the  bud, 
were  sure  to  develop 
into  gourds.  Thus  I 
learned  to  know  the 
"sterile"  from  the  "fer- 
tile" blossoms,  or  the 

SQUASH-BLOSSOM  n          i  ,1 

pollen  bearers  from  the 

seed  bearers.  By  the  same  token  I  learned  that 
the  gourd  family  was  very  susceptible  of  cross- 
fertilisation,  even  between  different  varieties,  for 
by  planting  the  seeds  from  a  favourite  little  bottle- 
gourd,  of  dainty  form  and  colour,  the  following 


PISTILLATES  AND  STAMINATES     29 

year  I  grew  a  strange  and  heterogeneous  progeny 
like  oranges,  green  clubs,  flat  squashes,  and  various 
things — all  the  visible  signs  of  the  work  of  the 
busy  bee. 

This  lesson  has  long  been  learned  by  the  seeds- 
men to  such  good  effect  that  they  are  obliged  to 
resort  to  severe  methods  to  keep  pure  their  strains 
of  seed  of  squashes,  cucumbers,  and  melons.  Some 
seedsmen  enclose  with  fine  wire  screens  the  whole 
patch  of  a  single  variety.  Others  grow  immense 
fields  of  one  kind  in  one  locality,  and,  as  far  as  a 
bee  can  fly  in  every  direction,  they  pledge  their 
farmer  neighbours  to  grow  no  other  squashy  thing, 
bribing  them  with  some  seeds  of  the  good  variety 
to  be  preserved.  In  the  Rocky  Ford  district,  fa- 
mous for  its  delicious  muskmelons,  it  is  humor- 
ously said  that  a  farmer  would  be  lynched  if  he 
were  to  plant  a  single  squash-vine.  In  England, 
where  summers  are  short  and  cold,  muskmelons 
are  necessarily  grown  in  greenhouses,  with  a  hive 
of  bees  to  carry  the  pollen  from  the  staminate  to 
the  pistillate  flowers,  without  which  no  fruit  would 
be  produced. 

WILD  BALSAM-APPLE — Echinocystis  lobata 

A  very  charming  and  decorative  vine,  growing 
in  great  profusion  along  our  roadsides,  bearing, 


30    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

in  July  pretty  clusters  of  greenish  white  blossoms, 
and,  in  October,  strange  seed-vessels  like  transpar- 
ent chestnut  burrs.  Xo  matter  how  the  vine  climbs 
and  twists  and  disports  itself,  the  flower  spires  are 

seen  to  stand  ver- 
tically, with  one, 
or  at  most  a  very 
few,  hanging 
down  below  the 
vine,  at  the  point  whence 
the  vertical  flower  -  stalk 
springs.  The  upper  and  numerous 
WILD  BALSAM-  flowers  arc  pollen  bearers,  the  lower 
ones  seed-makers.  We  can  under- 
stand the  logic  of  the  arrangement,  knowing  the 
habits  of  the  bee.  As  he  works  from  below,  up- 
ward, he  alights  first  upon  the  pistillate  flowers, 
then  climbs  the  floral  spire,  gathering  pollen  as  he 
goes,  to  take  it  down  to  the  pistillate  flowers  on  the 
next  group — and  so  on  with  drops  and  climbs  till 
he  has  disarranged  the  pollen  along  the  whole  gar- 
land of  the  vine. 

ARROWHEAD — Sagittaria 

This  decorative  flower  which  beautifies  the  mar- 
gins of  our  ponds  with  its  white  flowers  from  July 
to  September,  presents  twelve  distinct  species. 


PISTILLATES  AXD  STAMIXATES    31 

Though  some  of  these  exhibit  a  dioecious  habit,  as 
a  whole  the  Arrowheads  are  monoecious.  Their 
flowers  grow  in  groups  of  three  around  a  tall,  cen- 
tral stem.  The  lower  ones,  on  very  short  pedicles, 
are  the  first  to  bloom,  and  are  pistillate.  Above  the 
first  or  second  group  the  flowers  become  staminate 
and  grow  on  longer  pedicles. 

Schuyler  Matthews  says:  "The  pollen  of  the 
Sagittaria  is  distributed  by  a  variety  of  agents, 
not  least  of  which  are  the  insects  which  frequent 
wet  places,  among  them  the  glossy-winged  dragon- 
fly." 

Comparing  for  a  moment  the  two  habits  of  plants 
or  trees,  the  dioecious  with  the  monoecious,  it  seems 
to  the  writer  that  the  former  is  less  an  advanced 
stage  of  development  than  the  latter.  Surely,  stam- 
inate and  pistillate  flowers  growing  on  separate 
plants  are  farther  away  from  the  perfect  flower 
than  are  those  which  grow  on  the  same  plant. 

Though  both  dioecious  and  monoecious  flowers 
form  seeds  in  plenty  by  a  plan  insuring  cross- 
fertilisation,  they  seem  not  fully  to  have  satisfied 
the  desires  of  Dame  Nature,  and  her  next  experi- 
ment consisted  in  producing  both  pistils  and 
stamens  in  the  same  blossom,  as  if  to  see  what  would 
happen  under  such  conditions. 

I  believe  that  pistils  and  stamens  at  first  grew 


32     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

far  apart ;  then,  through  centuries  of  slow  progress, 
they  gradually  approached  one  another,  and  at 
length  became  close  neighbours,  within  the  fragile 
stockade  of  the  corolla  of  a  perfect  flower.  From 
that  time  forth,  I  surmise  that  the  flowers  evolved 
ever  more  highly  specialised  forms,  habits  and 
mechanisms,  till  the  orchid  came  into  being,  the 
latest  and  most  complete  expression  of  the  floral 
efforts. 


CHAPTER  III 


PERFECT    FLOWERS 

LANTS  bearing  perfect  flowers 
are    far    more    numerous    than 
those  bearing  pistillate  and  stam- 
inate  ones.       We  must,  there- 
fore, conclude  that  it  is  a  much 
better     arrangement     to     have 
stamens  and  pistils  grow  in  the 
same  blossom.      The  most  evi- 
dent advantage  is  that  of  economy: 
it  brings  about  great  saving  of  the 
precious  pollen,  there  are  no  sterile 
flowers,  and  the  time  of  the  busy 
bee  is  not  wasted. 

There  was  a  time  when  wind  and 
water  were  the  great  "common  car- 
riers" of  the  pollen,  and  the  work 
was  so  well  done  that  plants  grew 
and  throve.  But  better  means  of 
transport  came  into  existence.  In- 

33 


34     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

sects  of  many  sorts  arrived  on  the  scene,  as  we  know 
from  the  fossil  remains  of  them  preserved  in  the 
rock-formations,  and  simultaneously  with  them  ap- 
peared "real"  flowers.  Then  began  the  business 
of  insect-fertilisation,  with  all  its  invitations  and 
visits,  its  ceremonies  and  subterfuges.  The  imper- 
fect flowers  of  earlier  times  were  not  wholly  super- 
seded, but  vast  numbers  of  perfect  flowers  were 
developed,  combining  stamens  and  stigma  in  one 
showy  corolla,  made  more  alluring  by  its  colour, 
nectar  and  fragrance. 

When  I  speak  to  you  of  a  "flower"  there  prob- 
ably flashes  into  your  mind  the  image,  not  of  a 
pine-cone,  nor  of  a  cat-tail,  though  these  are  flow- 
ers, but  that  of  a  rose,  a  lily,  or  a  poppy — some 
bright,  regular  flower,  with  the  pistil  as  a  centre, 
surrounded  by  stamens  and  enclosed  in  a  cup  or 
fringe  of  petals  symmetrically  disposed.  They  are 
wide  open  to  every  comer,  and  attract  hosts  of 
insects. 

WINDFLOWER;  WOOD-ANEMONE — Anemone  quinquefolia 
April- June 

The  beautiful  little  star  of  the  early  spring  gives 
welcome  and  holds  open  house  to  the  bees  and  bee- 
like  flies  of  the  genus  Bombilius. 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  35 

WHITE  WATER-LILY — Castalia  odorata 
June-Sept. 

The  shining  petals  of  the  white  water-lily  part 
in  the  early  morning,  only  to  close  again  in  the 
afternoon.  They  offer  no  nectar,  but  a  plentiful 
supply  of  pollen,  which  is  eagerly  sought  and  easily 
obtained  by  bees  and  beetles. 


COMMON  ST.-JOHN'S-WORT — Hypericum  perforation 

MARSH  ST.-JOHN'S-WORT — Hypericum  virginicum 

July-Sept. 

The  full  clusters  of  golden-yellow  blossoms  of 
the  one  species,  and  the  smaller  clusters  of  a  pinkish 
flesh-colour  of  the  other,  have  no  nectar  but  pro- 
duce plenty  of  pollen  on  their  numerous  stamens, 
and  serve  it  up  freely  to  the  pollen-eating  flies  and 
beetles. 

COMMON   MALLOW — Malva  rotundifolia 
June-Oct. 

An  exceedingly  common  weed,  with  whitish  flow- 
ers, its  five  petals  veined  with  magenta.  In  Amer- 
ica it  has  become  naturalised  from  Europe,  and 
flourishes  because  it  pleases  and  satisfies  a  host  of 
the  native  insects,  such  as  the  honey-bee,  Bombus 
agrarum  and  Halictus  mono. 


36    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

HARDHACK;   STEEPLE-BUSH — Spiraea  tomentosa 
July-Sept. 

The  spires  are  composed  of  myriads  of  minute, 
deep-pink  blossoms,  which  bloom  from  the  apex 
downward,  offering  their  pollen  freely  and  with- 
out restriction  to  pollen-collecting  bees. 

FLOWERING  DOGWOOD — Cornus   florida 
April- June 

We  are  prone  to  speak  of  the  white  flowers  of 
the  dogwood,  mistaking  the  four  con- 
spicuous white  bracts  for  petals,  which 
serve  as  nectar  guides.  The  true 
flowers  are  minute  and  clustered  close 
together.  When  magnified  they  ap- 
pear like  small  lilies,  as  in  the  sketch, 
each  with  four  greenish  waxy  petals, 
curling  far  back,  and  four  stamens 
standing  erect  and  high  above  the 

JJUliWUUO  .  ., 

stigma.     Its  sweets  are  easily  acces- 
sible to  bees,  flies,  and  butterflies. 

THE  SPIDERWORT — Tradescantia  virginiana 

A  plant,  fairly  rare  in  New  England,  which 
adds  to  the  charm  of  its  beautiful  blue  colour  an 
unusual  form.  At  the  top  of  the  stem,  nestling 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  37 

in   the   axis   of   three 
narrow  leaves,  grows 
a  tassel  of  flower  buds.    One 
or  two  of  these  open   at  a 
'time,  disclosing  a  triangular 
blossom    of    heavenly    blue 
petals  and  a  cluster  of  golden 
stamens.      The    anthers    are 
widely  removed  from  the  central  stigma, 
which  is  thus  likely  to  receive  the  first 
touch  of  the  visitor.    The  spiderwort  is 
said  to  be  unquestionably  cross-fertil- 
ised by  the  earlier  of  the  queen  bumble- 

.  T»         ,          «  7  SPIDERWORT 

bees,  Bombus  JPennsylvanicus  and  Bom- 
bus  Separatus.     In  the  centre  of  this 
flower  will  be  discovered  a  tuft  of  hairy  growth. 
Each  of  the  six  filaments  is  bearded,  and  the  whole 
cluster  forms  this  little  tuft,  which  may  have  come 
into  existence  as  a  barrier  to  prevent  crawling  in- 
sects, who  have  touched  the  anthers,  from  climbing 
the  style  to  the  stigma  and  self- fertilising  the  flower. 


HEDGE  BINDWEED — Convolvulus  sepium 
June-August 

This  is  the  bride  among  the  morning-glories,  for 
its  trumpet,  pistil  and  pollen  are  all  white.     The 


38     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

anthers  are  creamy-yellow,  and  cluster  close 
against  the  long  style,  shedding  their  pollen  out- 
ward. They  invite  the  nocturnal  insects,  as  is 
shown  both  by  the  lack  of  colour  and  their  habit 
of  closing  at  the  kiss  of  the  sun.  The  long  pistil 
is  sure  to  receive  whatever  pollen  its  visitor  may 
bring.  It  is  visited  by  the  Sphynx  moths. 


.We  have  described  enough  of  these  regular,  wide- 
open  flowers.  These,  and  many  more  like  them, 

might  easily  receive 
their  own  pollen  on 
their  stigmas,  a  thing 
which  doubtless  often 
occurs.  Must  we, 
then,  believe  that 
these  flowers  do  not 
require  cross-fertili- 
sation? Can  they 
flourish  and  survive 
in  defiance  of  the 
great  law  which  re- 
quires  occasional 
mixing  of  hereditary  strains? 

They  have  no  structural  nor  mechanical  con- 
trivances, as  some  other  flowers  have,  but  there  is 
a  "saving  clause"  in  the  law  of  heredity  which  pro- 


CONVOLVULUS 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  39 

tects  them  from  enfeeblement  and  extermination. 
These  simple,  accessible  flowers  do  not  depend  upon 
cunning  mechanisms,  but  upon  a  principle  which 
rules  the  flower-world:  namely,  that  the  pollen  of 
a  flower  is  not  as  effective  on  its  own  stigma  as 
the  pollen  from  another  flower  of  the  same  plant, 
\vhile  pollen  from  a  different  plant  of  the  same 
kind  is  the  most  effective  of  all.  This  prepotence 
of  pollen  from  afar  will  be  more  fully  dealt  with 
later. 

The  flowers  under  consideration  most  likely  re- 
ceive some  of  their  pollen  on  their  own  stigmas, 
but  they  seem  to  count  upon  the  luck  found  in 
numbers.  The  more  numerous  the  insect  visitors, 
the  greater  their  chance  to  bring  foreign  pollen 
which  will  prevail  in  fertilising  power  over  that  of 
home  production,  and  the  resulting  seedlings  will 
have  increase  of  vigour  and  superior  adaptability, 
the  better  to  fit  them  for  ever-changing  conditions, 
that  they  may  win  in  the  perpetual  struggle  for 
life. 

Apparently  the  wide-open  flowers  succeeded  all 
too  well  in  attracting  the  insects.  The  latter,  be- 
ing copiously  fed,  became  sleek  and  fat,  propagated 
enormously,  and  charged  in  ever-increasing  hordes 
upon  the  flowers.  Uninvited  and  undesirable 
guests  came  unbidden  to  the  free  banquet,  and 


40     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

went  away  without  paying  their  toll.  Something 
had  to  be  done  to  restrict  the  Bacchanalian  revelry 
and  compel  the  insects  to  do  the  service  expected 
of  them :  namely,  to  fetch  and  carry  pollen  among 
the  flowers. 

A  slight  change  in  the  relative  lengths  and  posi- 
tions of  the  stamens  and  pistils  would  certainly 
help  matters,  and  accordingly  many  flowers  adopt, 
and  survive  by,  such  improvements.  One  such  aid 
is  to  be  found  in  the  flower  which  turns  its  anthers 
away  from  the  stigma,  and  sheds  its  pollen  out- 
ward. Another  will  be  seen  in  the  flower  whose 
style  is  very  long,  bearing  its  stigma  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  anthers,  thus  coming  out  of  doors,  as 
it  were,  to  welcome  the  guest  before  he  has  reached 
the  threshold. 

MARSH    MARIGOLD — Caltha   palustris 
April-May 

This  little  plant,  which  enlivens  with  its  colour 
the  borders  of  our  ponds  and 
streams  in  early  spring,  bears  wide- 
open  flowers  with  plenty  of  nectar, 
and  numerous  pistils  and  stamens 
ripening  simultaneously.  They  at- 
tract the  beautiful  yellow  flies  of 
MARSH^MARI-  the  Syrphidce  family,  who  do  much 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  41 

of  the  work  of  fertilisation.  As  in  the  tulip,  the 
anthers  open  outward,  the  outermost  ring  being 
the  first  to  ripen;  thus  the  stigmas  are  somewhat 
protected  and  cross-fertilisation  is  slightly  favoured. 

FIELD  MUSTARD — Brassica  arvensis 
May-Sept. 

When  this  common  yellow  flower  unfolds,  the 
anthers  turn  away  from  the  stigma,  and  the  bee 
thrusts  his  head  between  them  and  the  petals  in 
search  of  the  nectar  secreted  by  glands  at  the  bases 
of  the  stamens.  As  the  flower  grows  older  and 
withers  the  anthers  turn  their  pollen-covered  side 
upward,  and  finally  their  tips  curve  toward  the 
stigma,  so  as  to  effect  fertilisation  if  that  has  not 
already  been  accomplished  with  pollen  from  else- 
where. 

It  is  visited  by  bees,  bee-flies  and  beetles. 

COMMON   ELDER — Sambucus  canadensis 
June-July 

These  little  flowers,  individually  so 
inconspicuous,  become  showy  in  their 
close,  flat  groups.  The  whole  corymb 
forms  a  landing  stage  for  insects,  who 
crawl  over  it  from  floret  to  floret. 
The  stamens  spread  far  away  from  the  ELDER 


42     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

pistil,  and  although  self-fertilisation  might  easily 
be  affected  by  insect  visitors,  cross-fertilisation  is 
far  more  likely  to  take  place,  for  when  the  insect 
settles  first  upon  the  stigma  cross-fertilisation  is  a 
certainty,  and  if  he  alights  upon  a  petal  cross-fer- 
tilisation is  still  probable,  owing  to  the  spreading 
of  the  anthers.  The  elder  is  visited  mostly  by 
honey-bees  who  come  in  search  of  pollen,  as  their 
blossoms  have  little  nectar  to  offer  as  a  lure. 

WATER    PLANTAIN— A  lisma   plantago-aquatica 
July-Sept. 

Though  the  flowers  of  this  plant  grow  in  a  much 
more  open  cluster  than  the  foregoing,  the  florets 
bear  a  resemblance  to  those  of  the  elder  in  having 
the  short  stigma  and  wide-spreading  stamens.  They 
are  visited  by  the  bee-like  drone  flies  (SyrpMdce), 
to  whom  they  offer  both  pollen  and  nectar. 

YELLOW   STAR  GRASS — Hypoxis  hirsuta 
April- July 

A  charming  little  golden  star 
flower  whose  six  stamens  spread 
as  wide  as  they  can,  resting  close 
against  the  petals.  They  attract 
the  smaller  bees  (Halictus)  and 
YELGRAS|TAR  the  butterflies  (BrentUs  Bel- 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  43 

lona),  known  by  the  familiar  name  of  meadow 
fritillary — probably  because  their  tawny  wings  are 
spotted  with  deeper  brown,  much  as  are  the  fritil- 
lary flowers. 

VIRGINIA  LUNGWORT — Mertensia  virginica 

In  the  Virginia  lungwort  the  stamens  are  spread 
as  far  from  the  pistil  as  the  tubular  shape  of  the 
flower  will  permit. 

FORGET-ME-NOT — Myosotis  pcdustris 

The  stamens  in  this  friendly  little  flower  grow 
against  the  walls  of  the  flower  tube,  being  sus- 
pended from  the  ring,  or  connected  at  the  junction 
of  tubes  and  petals.  When  a  bee  visits  the  flower 
he  rubs  one  side  of  his  tongue  against  the  stigma 
and  the  other  side  against  an  anther 
— a  very  neat  little  scheme  which 
works  all  the  more  surely  because 
the  bee  makes  but  one  thrust  into 
the  flower. 


We  have  given  sufficient  exam- 
ples of  flowers  shedding  pollen  as 
far  as  they  can  from  the  stigma,  and 
now  we  will  examine  some  which  FORGET-ME-NOT 


44    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


send  their  stigmas  as  far  as  possible  away  from  the 
pollen. 

If  a  pistil  is  much  longer  than  the  stamens,  it 
is  likely  to  receive  the  first  touch  of  an  approaching 
insect,  and  will  thus  brush  off  and  hold  any  pollen 
that  he  is  bringing  from  another  flower.  We  know 
that  flowers  are  wise  in  their  generation,  and  ready 
to  seize  upon  any  invention  which  will  help  them 
in  their  struggle,  so  many  of  them  have  sa- 
gaciously adopted  the  above-mentioned  scheme. 

Pistils  longer  than  the  Stamens 

PINK  AZALEA — Rhododendron  nudiflorum 
April-May 

Let  us  go  to  the  edge  of  some  wood  and  watch 
the  flowers  of  the  pink  azalea,  with  their  long  styles 

and  protruding  stig- 
mas, and  study  the 
action  of  the  moths 
and  butterflies  - 
guests  whose  long, 
prehensile  beaks  are 
just  fitted  to  reach 

AZALEA  AND  MOTH  deCP     d°™    mt°    tllC 

trumpet     and     suck 

the  honey,  and  whose  bodies  are  just  long  enough 
to  receive  on  the  under  side  of  the  abdomen  a  touch 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  45 

of  pollen,  and  perfectly  adapted  to  the  task  of  carry- 
ing it  to  the  stigmas  of  other  flowers. 

Watch  and  you  will  be  charmed  to  see  flowers 
and  butterflies  working  in  perfect  unison,  with  a 
singular  rhythm,  like  the  parts  of  a  finely  adjusted 
mechanism,  or  like  some  clever  musician  adroitly 
manipulating  the  keys  of  his  instrument.  The 
yellow  tiger  swallow-tail  butterfly,  the  clear-wing 
or  Sphynx  moth,  and  the  humming-bird  are  fre- 
quent visitors  to  the  azalea.  The  pink  azalea  oc- 
curs in  Japan,  and  according  to  a  print  from  there 
it  seems  identical  to  the  pink  azalea  of  America. 
The  flame  azalea,  one  of  our  most  gorgeous  flowers, 
was  discovered  in  the  Alleghanies,  and  flourishes 
under  cultivation.  It  has  little  or  no  fragrance,  but 
its  colour  and  nectar  attract  especially  the  tiger 
swallow-tail  butterfly.  The  fact  should  be  noted 
that  insects  often  show  a  preference  for  flowers 
whose  colour  resembles  their  own,  a  circumstance 
which  later  will  be  more  fully  discussed. 

WHITE  OR  CLAMMY  AZALEA — Rhododendron  viscosum 

This  blooms  in  June  and  July  and  sends  forth 
a  rich  and  heavy  fragrance,  doubtless  to  attract  the 
night-moths.  Outside  the  corolla  tubes  it  has  a 
sticky,  hairy  coating  to  keep  away  creeping  insects. 


46    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

TRUMPET   HONEYSUCKLE — Lonicera  caprifolium 
May -Oct. 

This  flower  is  a  convenient  one  to  observe  and 
study,  because  it  is  found  so  near  our  homes, 
often  clustering  about  our  porches  and,  of  a  sum- 
mer night,  sending  its  heavy 
and  delicious  perfume  into 
our  windows,  recalling  ro- 
mantic evenings  and  dis- 
tant lands.  Then,  too,  its 
visitors,  the  night-moths, 
come  in  a  stealthy,  spectral 

HONEYSUCKLE  .      i«  /,..,.  in- 

fashion,  flitting  and  fleeing 

on  filmy  wings  impalpable  as  a  fairy-tale.  Yet 
the  honeysuckle  is  just  as  earnest  in  its  nature  and 
just  as  ingenious  in  its  efforts  to  succeed. 

Its  stigma  advances  well  beyond  the  group  of 
anthers,  and  all  are  nicely  proportioned  to  brush 
against  the  downy  body  of  the  hawk-moth.  Its 
trumpet  is  exactly  proportioned  in  length  and 
diameter  to  fit  the  moth's  tongue,  and  the  fragrance 
and  nectar  well  up  in  an  increasing  tide  when  twi- 
light falls  and  the  guests  are  due  to  arrive.  When 
bees  try  in  vain  to  sip  at  the  honeysuckle  I  am  re- 
minded of  the  fable  of  the  Fox  invited  to  dine  with 
the  Stork  and  unable  to  drink  from  the  tall  vase, 
which  offered  no  difficulty  to  his  long-billed  host. 


PERFECT  FLOWERS 


GREAT  LAUREL — Rhododendron  maximum 

Originally  from  the  Alleghanies, 
though  now  found  extensively  un- 
der cultivation,  the  Great  Laurel 
presents  the  same  scheme  of  pro- 
curing cross-fertilisation  as  the 
flowers  already  mentioned,  with 
this  peculiarity:  the  anthers  re- 
semble two  little  meal-bags  with 
open  mouths  pointing  upward,  RHODODENDRONS 
ready  to  dust  the  under  side  of  the  visitor  with 
pollen  the  moment  he  sets  them  vibrating  on 
their  long  spring-like  filaments.  The  microscope 
discloses  that  the  pollen-grains  are  bound  together 

in    long,    furry    chains. 

MOUNTAIN   LAUREL — Kalmim 
latifolia 

This  has  similar  an- 
thers, with,  however,  a 
much  more  complex 
mechanism,  to  be  later 
described.  Its  long  pro- 
truding pistil  receives 
the  first  touch  of  an  ap- 
proaching moth  before 
the  stamens  are  dis- 
MOUNTAIN  LAUREL  arranged. 


48    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

HORSE-CHESTNUT — Msculus  hippocastanum 

The  handsome  spires  of  horse-chestnut  bloom 
are  found  to  consist  of  orchid-like  blossoms,  fluted 
and  showily  marked  with  colour,  pink  on  some  and 
yellow  on  a  neighbour,  their  stamens  and  pistils 
curving  forward  and  upward,  with  the  latter  well 
in  advance.  But  all  are  not  perfect  flowers :  at  least 
two-thirds  on  each  spire  bear  pollen  yet  have  sterile 
pistils. 

SHINLEAF — Pyrola  elliptica 
July 

The  shinleaf  has  similar  habits,  save  that  it  turns 
its  face  down  toward  the  ground  and,  therefore, 
protrudes  its  long,  curving  pistil  for  a  landing- 
stage.  Here  insects  may  alight  and,  first  touching 
the  stigma,  climb  up  into  the  corolla  for  nectar  and 
more  pollen.  Roofed  by  the 
overhanging  petals  are  ten  pol- 
len-bags, packed  closely  together 
and  ready,  at  a  touch,  to  dis- 
charge their  contents  upon  the 
visitor  who  ventures  to  climb  up 
into  the  flower.  The  great  abun- 
dance of  these  flowers  and  their 
sweet  fragrance  attract  success- 
fully the  bee-like  flies  (Syrplridce) 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  49 

and  the  bees  of  the  genus  Halictus  to  good 
effect,  as  we  shall  discover  later  in  the  sea- 
son by  the  great  numbers  of  seed-vessels  which 
ripen. 

WAKE-ROBIN;  BIRTHROOT — Trillium  erectum 
April- June 

The  common  name  for  this  plant  is  not  strictly 
exact,  for  the  robins  come  first  to  awake  the  Tril- 
lium; yet  the  flower  appears  among  the  advance- 
guard  to  assure  us  that  spring  has  come.  Even 
the  dull,  brownish  purple-red  is  welcome  at  this 
season;  but  I  cannot  say  as  much  for  its  disagree- 
able, fetid  odour.  Yet  both  colour  and  odour  please 
the  green  flesh-flies  (Lucilia  carniciana),  who  are 
the  best  pollen  porters  for  the  Trillium.  (See  the 
sketch  on  page  5.) 

In  flowers  like  this,  the  insects  make  a  dash  for 
the  centre  and,  if  they  hit  the  mark,  land  upon 
the  stigma.  Leaving  what  pollen  they  bring, 
they  then  climb  down  upon  the  corolla,  and,  ob- 
taining nectar  and  more  pollen,  fly  away  without 
again  touching  the  stigma.  They  may,  however, 
miss  the  centre  of  the  flower  altogether,  and  rest 
upon  the  petals  only,  thus  doing  neither  good  nor 
harm. 


50     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


BLUE-EYED  GRASS — Sisyrinchium  angustifolium 
May-June 

The  pistil  of  this  flower  stands  well 
above  the  corolla.  Below  it  are  grouped 
three  stamens.  What  seems  the  corolla  is 
a  cup,  or  six-pointed  star,  formed  by  three 
petals  and  three  sepals  of  lovely  violet-blue. 
The  flower  is  cross-fertilised  by  the  bees 
and  the  bee-like  flies  (SyrpUdce)  who,  on 
arriving  with  pollen,  first  touch  the  ad- 
vancing stigma,  which  is  three-parted  and 
EYED  sensitive  only  on  its  upper  surface.  On 
retreating,  the  insects  may  brush ,  against 

the  under  and  insensitive  surface  of  the  stigma 

only. 

SWAMP  ROSE-MALLOW — Hibiscus  moscheutos 
August-Sept. 

The  swamp  rose-mallow 
shows  us  another  fine  exam- 
ple of  this  mode  of  making 
sure  that  the  stigmas  shall 
receive  the  first  contact  of 
an  approaching  insect. 
They  consist  of  a  group  of  five  adhesive  discs,  far 
in  advance  of  the  many  pollen-bearing  stamens, 
growing  like  a  furry  muff  around  the  central  style. 


SWAMP   ROSE -MALLOW 
Stamens  and  Stigmas 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  51 

PITCHER-PLANT — Sarracenia  purpurea 
May-June 

A  singularly  interesting  variation  of  this  scheme 
,of  protruding  pistils  is  to  be  found  in  the  flower  of 
the  pitcher-plant.  In  many  parts  of  the  country 
the  pitcher-plant  is  a  rarity,  and  very  few  of  the 
nature-lovers  have  ever  seen  the  handsome  blos- 
som. The  reason  for  this  is  that  there  are  very  few 
of  the  peat-bogs,  or  sphagnum  moors,  which  the 
pitcher-plant  and  the  sundew  prefer.  The  peat- 
bog furnishes  no  nitrogenous  food  for  plants,  and 
it  is  said  that  for  this  reason  the  two  plants  men- 
tioned have  become  fly-catchers  in  order  to  sup- 
ply themselves  with  the  nitrogen  for  which  they 
hunger. 

The  flower  of  the  pitcher-plant  seems  at  a  dis- 
tance like  a  dull  red  rose;  but  great  was  my  sur- 
prise to  find  the  centre  of  the  corolla  closed  by  a 
little  green  umbrella  with  five  ribs.  On  dissecting 
the  flower,  I  found  plenty  of  stamens  clustering 
around  the  umbrella-stick,  but  was  baffled  in  my 
search  for  the  stigma.  After  considerable  study, 
I  discovered  that  the  umbrella  was  a  protruding 
pistil,  with  its  outer  end  greatly  expanded,  and 
that  the  tips  of  the  five  ribs,  curved  under  into  little 
hooks,  were  the  five  divisions  of  the  stigma,  where 
pollen  must  be  applied. 


52     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

Now,  with  such  an  arrangement,  the  question  is: 
how  does  the  flower  induce  its  guest  to  rub  against 
these  stigmas  before  he  approaches  the  pollen? 
There  are  five  entrances  and  five  exits.  Five  of  the 
dull  red-and-green  petals  form  landing-stages  for 
insect  visitors,  and  each  leads  to  a  low  entrance 
under  a  hook  of  the  stigma.  This  hook  permits 
free  entrance  but  doubtless  deters  the  insect  from 
leaving  by  the  way  he  entered.  The  other  five 
petals  curve  inward,  over  the  umbrella,  between 
the  ribs,  thus  closing  the  exits  to  an  arrival,  but 
freely  permitting  a  departure. 

The  doings  of  our  visitor  are  now  easy  to  ex- 
plain. He  arrives  by  the  proper  entrance,  crawls 
under  the  stigma,  and  enters  the  cool,  circular 
chamber,  where  he  takes  what  nectar  and  pollen  he 
desires.  Then,  seeking  to  leave  the  reception  room, 
he  finds  that  his  easiest  way  out  is  to  push  one  of 
the  curved  petals,  a  veritable  swinging-door  which 
opens  outward. 

The  visitors  best  fitted  to  act  as  pollen  porters 
for  the  pitcher-plant  are  the  carrion-flies;  and  it 
is  for  them  that  the  flowers  assume  their  red  colour- 
ing and  veining,  suggestive  of  raw  meat.  The 
flies  also  find  a  delectable  feast  in  the  dead  insects 
floating  in  the  "pitchers";  one  species  of  flesh-fly, 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  53 

the  Sarcophaga  sarracenice,  has  even  received  its 
name  from  the  generic  name  of  the  plant.  But  we 
have  not  yet  done  with  the  many-sided  relations 
which  bind  the  pitcher-plant  to  the  insect  world. 
For  insects  it  is  not  only  a  reception  room  and  a 
tomb,  but  also  a  cradle.  There  is  a  moth  called 
"Pappaipema  appassiona- 
ta"  which  breeds  in  the  root 
of  the  Sarracenia. 


In  addition  to  the  flow- 
ers described,  the  following 
procure  cross  -  fertilisation 
by  means  of  the  stigma  riTCIIER.PLANT 

placed  well  in  advance  of 

their  anthers:  huckleberry,  sundrop,  pipsissewa, 
shooting  star,  Indian  cucumber-root,  early  blue 
violet,  wintergreen  and  others. 

But  spreading  stamens  and  protruding  pistils 
are  not  the  only  variations  possible  in  the  positions 
of  those  organs.  A  third,  and  most  interesting, 
combination  has  been  effected  to  procure  cross- 
fertilisation  in  the  so-called  dimorphic  flowers, 
which  we  can  best  explain  with  some  of  the  dainty 
little  Houstonias  in  our  hands. 


54    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

QUAKER-LADY,  OR  BLUETS — Houstonia  ccerulea 
April-July 

These  frail  little  flowers,  which  come  early  in  the 
spring  and  bide  with  us  into  the  scorching  days  of 
summer,  are  so  minute  as  to  appear  at  the  first 
glance  to  be  all  alike.  But  a  closer  inspection  dis- 
closes two  kinds  of  these  flowers.  The  plants  grow 
in  scattered  bunches,  or  tufts,  and  all  the  flowers 
of  one  tuft  will  show  protruding  pistils  at  the  open- 
ings of  their  throats,  while  flowers  of  another  bunch 
will  seem  to  have  none.  We  must  not,  however, 
jump  to  the  conclusion  that  we  have  found  pistillate 
and  staminate  flowers.  Carefully  cutting  open  a 
number  of  the  flowers,  we  find  that  long  pistils  and 
short  stamens  grow  in  some  flowers,  while  short 
pistils  and  long  stamens  occur  in  others ;  and,  with 
a  microscope,  the  pollen  from  the  short  stamens  is 
seen  to  consist  of  globular  grains  much  smaller  than 
those  from  the  long  stamens. 

Suppose  a  bee  of  the  genus  Halictus  thrusts  his 
tongue  into  flowers  of  both  kinds.  In  so  doing, 
he  will  accumulate  pollen  in  two  rings — the  lower 
being  of  the  finer  grains  from  short  stamens,  the 
upper  of  the  coarser  from  long  stamens.  But  in 
these  visits,  the  tongue  will  brush  against  the  pistils 
too,  and  the  coarser,  upper  pollen  can  reach  only 
the  long  stigmas,  while  the  fine  pollen  will  be  car- 


PERFECT  FLOWERS 


55 


ried  down  to  the  short  stigmas.  But,  in  the  latter 
case,  in  passing  down  the  long  tube,  some  of  the 
fine  pollen  may  easily  lodge  upon  a  long  stigma. 
What  then  will  happen?  Nothing!  For  the  long 
pistils  are  sensitive  to  the  coarse  pollen  only,  and 
cannot  be  fertilised  by  the  finer.  Hence,  the  long- 
stamen  flowers  fertilise  those  with  short  stamens, 
and  vice  versa. 

The  Houstonia  is  fertilised  by  the  bees,  Halictus 
and  Andrena,  and  by  the  smaller  butterflies,  es- 


HOUSTONIA 


pecially  the  clouded  sulphur  (Coleas  philodice), 
the  meadow  fritillary  (Brenthis  bellona)  and  the 
painted  lady  (Pyrameis  Cardui).  Flowers  such 
as  those  of  the  Houstonia  are  called  dimorphic,  or 
"two-formed."  Another  example  is: 

GARDEN  GERANIUM 

As  a  study  in  dimorphism,  the  garden  geranium 
is  most  valuable,  as  it  is  easy  to  obtain,  and  its  parts 


56     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

are  large  enough  to  be 
readily  visible.  But  one 
must  examine  a  great 
many  flower-heads  in  or- 
der to  find  the  long-pis- 
tilled  variety.  When  I 
first  noticed  the  long, 
conspicuous  styles  pro- 
truding from  certain  flowers,  I  mistook  them  for 
ripening  seed-vessels,  and  was  accordingly  much 
surprised  to  discover  at  their  tips  small  stigmas, 
five-parted  and  adhesive.  These  stigmas  are  held 
nearly  an  inch  above  the  group  of  short  stamens. 
If  no  other  plants  produced  dimorphic  flowers,  we 
might  consider  these  long  pistils  as  accidents,  or 
"sports,"  as  they  occur  in  very  small  numbers  and 
very  irregularly,  while  the  flowers  with  very  short 
pistils  appear  like  quite  normal  flowers  and,  being 
very  numerous,  seem  to  be  the  standard  type,  of 
which  the  others  are  the  exceptions. 

In  the  short-pistilled  flowers  I  discovered  con- 
siderable self-fertilisation  going  on,  while  in  those 
with  the  long  pistils  this  would  be  impossible  to 
occur. 

PARTRIDGE  BERRY 

This  little  plant,  usually  classed  as  dimorphic, 
sometimes  becomes  dioecious  through  stamens  in 


PERFECT  FLOWERS 


57 


PARTRIDGE  BERRY 
(Dimorphic) 


some  flowers  and  pis- 
tils  in  others  failing  to 
perfect.  This  is  true, 
also,  of  certain  of  the 
primroses  and  foreign 
species  of  the  flax 
( Li n  u  m  grandifiorum 
and  Linum  flavium). 

Then  there  are  flowers,  called  "trimorphic  flow- 
ers," which  bear  stamens  and  pistils  of  three  dif- 
ferent lengths ;  but  they  so  arrange  matters  among 
themselves  that  the  pollen  from  the  long,  the 
medium,  and  the  short  stamens  shall  take  effect 
upon  the  long,  the  medium,  and  the  short  pistils, 
respectively.  The  pickerel-weed  (Pontederia) ,  the 
purple  spiked  loosestrife  (Ly thrum  Salicaria),  and 
the  wood-sorrel  (Oxalis)  furnish  us  with  excellent 
studies  in  trimorphism. 


STAMENS    AND    PISTILS    DEVELOPING    AT    DIFFERENT 
TIMES 

(Called  "Dichogamy") 

If,  as  we  have  seen,  the  position  of  the  anthers 
and  the  stigmas  assists  greatly  in  the  cross-fertilisa- 
tion of  the  flowers,  the  time  of  their  development 
with  reference  to  one  another  proves  to  be  still  more 
effective. 


58     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

There  are  vast  numbers  of  flowers  which  ripen 
their  stamens  and  their  pistils  at  different  times — a 
simple  scheme  distinguished  by  the  clumsy  name  of 
"dichogamy."  Such  flowers  are  just  as  certain  to 
be  cross-fertilised  as  if  they  were  separate  staminate 
or  pistillate  flowers;  which,  in  fact,  they  are,  with 
the  economic  advantage  that  no  flower  is  sterile. 
The  scheme  is  simple  and  its  purpose  obvious  to 
us ;  yet  it  formed  the  greatest  stumbling-block  in 
the  path  of  true  knowledge  of  this  subject  and 
wrecked  the  beautiful  theory  of  Sprengel. 

Many  more  flowers  conform  to  this  system  than 
we  at  first  suspect,  and  I  wish  to  point  out  ways  for 
recognising  them. 

We  can  see  at  a  glance  if  the  anthers  are  produc- 
ing pollen,  but  not  always  can  we  tell  if  the  stigma 
be  mature.  In  some  cases  the  stigma  separates  into 
two  or  more  divisions,  when  it  is  ripe  and  ready  to 
receive  the  pollen  and  transmit  to  the  ovules  the 
life-giving  impulse.  This  we  see  in  the  flower  of  the 
wild  geranium. 

Other  pistils,  however,  on  maturing  show  no 
change  of  form,  but  become  slightly  furry,  or  sticky 
— as  in  the  lilies — to  hold  fast  the  pollen  grains ;  and 
in  order  to  ascertain  whether  these  pistils  be  ripe 
we  must  make  a  little  experiment. 

Choosing  a  stamen  whose  anthers  are  covered 
with  pollen,  we  pull  it  out  of  the  flower  by  means 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  59 

of  a  pair  of  very  fine  tweezers,  then  rub  its  pollen 
against  the  pistil  in  question,  and  note  whether  it 
adheres  or  no.  Frequently,  the  ripening  of  the 
pistil  is  announced,  as  in  the  ripening  of  fruit,  by  a 
change  in  color  from  green  to  some  other  tint  more 
conspicuous;  for  in  the  Plant-world  green  counts 
as  no  colour. 

We  must  always  be  on  the  lookout  for  this 
"dichogamy"  in  flowers,  and,  as  an  important  part 
of  our  studies,  determine  whether  the  anthers  or 
the  stigmas  be  the  first  to  mature. 

STIGMAS  DEVELOPING  BEFORE  STAMENS 
(Called  "Proterogynous  dichogamy") 

ENGLISH    PLANTAIN;    RIPPLE    GRASS;    RIB    GRASS — Plantago 
lanceolata   (June-Sept.) 

This  in  America  is  an  immigrant  from  Europe, 
a  naturalised  citizen  to  be  found  everywhere  from 
June  to  September.  From  a  group  of  lance- 
shaped  and  strongly  ribbed  leaves  rises  a  tall  stem, 
surmounted  by  a  pointed  cone  of  greenish  buds  and 
brownish  flowers,  so  minute  as  to  be  almost  indis- 
tinguishable. Around  the  flower-cone  seems  to 
float  a  hazy  ring  of  pollen-laden  anthers,  as  the 
rings  of  Saturn  float  round  that  planet. 

If  we  watch  a  plant  from  day  to  day,  we  will  no- 
tice that  the  brown  flowers  and  the  pollen  ring  seem 


60    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


to  rise  higher  and  higher ;  and  under  the 
lens  we  distinguish  four  stages  of  the 
flowers,  one  below  the  other.  Beginning 
at  the  top  we  find  unopened 
buds ;  then  buds  with  protruding 
pistils;  then  little  florets  with 
four  brown  petals,  and  four  sta- 
mens whose  long,  slender  fila- 
ments bear  the  anthers  far  out 
beyond  the  withered  pistil.  Be- 
low them,  again,  are  the  calices 
left  empty  by  the  falling  of  the 
flowers.  A  flower-head,  with 
blooms  in  successive  stages  and 
a  single  floret  with  anthers,  is  shown  in 
the  accompanying  sketch. 

Since  this  flower  has  no  conspicuous 
colour  and  no  nectar,  and  the  stamens 
swing  loosely  at  the  ends  of  long  fila- 
ments, it  is  probably  fertilised  by  the 
wind,  according  to  Asa  Gray — an  un- 
usual thing  in  an  herb  of  this  sort,  not 
a  grass  nor  a  sedge. 

COMMON   PLANTAIN — Plant  ago  major 
The  common  plantain  shown  in  the 

COMMON 

sketch   will   be    found   to    develop    its      PLANTAIN 


ENGLISH  PLANTAIN 


PERFECT  FLOWERS 


61 


stigma  before  its  pollen.  The  pistil  emerges  from 
the  little  green  flower,  like  a  tongue,  and  later  the 
stamens  push  out  also;  and  as  the  blooming  pro- 
gresses upward,  we  find  stamens,  /». 
pistils,  and  buds  in  successive  stages, 
one  above  the  other. 

GREATER  MULLEIN — 

Verbascum    thapsius 

June-Sept. 

We  are  apt  to  pass  by 
in  scorn  this  common  and 
unattractive    weed,    which 
seems,    with   its   presence, 
to  make  the  waste  places 
only  more  desolate.     But 
though  its  leaves  are  like 
faded    flannel,    and    its 
flowers  are  of  an  unattrac- 
tive yellow,   yet  its   erect 
spike  possesses   a  certain  rugged 
grace,  and  its  flowers  prove  to  be 
quite  interesting  in  their  manner  of 
procuring  cross-fertilisation. 

As  will  be  seen  in  the  upper  of 
our  small  sketches,  the  flower  first  opens  its  three 
lower  petals,  uncovering  its  prominent  pistil,  whilst 


MULLEIN 


62    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


concealing  the  stamens  under  the  two  upper  petals, 
as  under  a  hood.  In  this  state,  an  insect  who  calls 
will  be  sure  to  strike  the  pistil,  and  to  leave  upon 
it  any  pollen  he  may  bring. 

A  little  later,  this  pistil  droops,  the  upper  petals 
curl  back,  as  in  the  lower  small  sketch,  and  the  sta- 
mens fill  the  approach  to  the  flower's  throat,  ready 
to  give  up  their  pollen  to  any  passing  guest. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  two  stages  of  the  Mullein 
flower,  the  pistillate  and  the  staminate,  are  as  dis- 
tinct as  if  the  flowers  were  monoecious. 


COMMON  FIGWORT — Scrophularia 
marilandica 
July-Sept. 

The  common  figwort  ex- 
hibits a  very  simple  con- 
trivance for  making  cer- 
tain that  the  bee  shall 
touch  the  pistil  before 
reaching  the  pollen.  When 
the  flower  first  expands 
the  pistil  alone  is  seen  at 
the  opening  of  the  throat, 
where  it  is  sure  to  receive 
any  pollen  that  an  arriv- 
ing insect  may  bring.  The 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  63 

upper  sectional  view  in  the  sketch  shows  the  flowers 
in  this  stage  and  explains  why  the  stamens  are  not 
visible,  as  they  are  curved  down  and  backward, 
with  the  anthers  down  in  the  throat  of  the  flower. 

The  next  day  after  the  flower  has  opened  the 
pistil  is  seen  to  have  wilted,  and  hangs  like  a  tongue 
upon  the  lower  lip  of  the  flower,  while  the  stamens 
have  straightened  up  (as  shown  in  the  lower  sec- 
tional sketch),  thus  bringing  the  anthers  into  a 
conspicuous  position,  where  they  can  dust  with 
pollen  an  approaching  guest. 

Mr.  Gibson  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
figwort  strives  to  please  and  to  attract  the  wasps 
in  preference  to  other  insects.  Its  colour  is  dull 
and  sombre,  the  flavour  of  its  nectar  seems  agree- 
able to  wasps  and  not  to  others,  and,  lastly,  its 
mode  of  inflorescence  conforms  to  the  habits  of 
the  former  only,  as  will  now  be  explained. 

Most  flowers  growing  in  spikes  or  panicles 
bloom  from  below  upward,  to  please  the  bees  who 
visit  them  in  that  order ;  but  the  figwort  and  other 
"wasp -flowers"  bloom  first  at  the  top  and  thence 
continue  downward,  for  it  is  the  custom  of  the  wasps 
to  begin  at  the  top  and  work  downward.  Here  we 
have  a  striking  example  of  the  adaptation  of  flowers 
to  the  tastes  and  habits  of  their  insect  affinities,  how 
they  offer  hospitality  and  then  exact  a  favour  in 


64     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


return.  Such  distinctly  human 
traits  should  endear  the  flowers 
to  us  more  than  ever. 

YELLOW   POND-LILY — Nymphcea 

advena 
May -A  ugust 

The  yellow  pond-lily  has  a 
somewhat  similar  mode  of  ac- 
complishing the  same  end.  As 
in  the  figwort,  the  stamens  are 
immature,  curved  downward 
and  out  of  the  way  when  the 
flower  opens  its  petals  slowly, 
giving  at  first  but  a  small  tri- 
angular opening  through  which 
insects  must  pass  directly  to  the 
broad,  flat  disc  of  the  stigma.  Later,  the  petals 
fully  expand  and  the  anthers  straighten  up 
and  shed  their  pollen  all  around  the  heart  of  the 
flower. 

This  pond-lily  possesses  no  fragrance,  but  it 
attracts  the  Halictus  bees  (according  to  Professor 
Robertson)  and  beetles  named  Donacia  piscatrix, 
or  the  more  common  Donacia  subfiles,  a  beetle  about 
three-eighths  of  an  inch  long,  of  a  dark  green- 
bronze  colour. 


POND-LILY 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  65 

HORSE-BALM  ;  RICHWEED 

Collinsonia    canadensis       ,     -^  «  /»  -  , 

I  t  U)     fJutok  /TkA%        IV  *- 

The  horse-balm  is 
an  inconspicuous  yet 
singularly  interest- 
ing flower,  whose 

-,  „  .  COLLINSONIA 

mode    or    securing 

cross-fertilisation  for  a  long  time  mystified  so  keen 
an  observer  as  Mr.  Gibson.  He  seems  to  be  the 
first  to  solve  the  "mystery,"  as  follows: 

"What  I  observed  is  pictured  severally  in  the 
figure,  the  flower  being  shown  from  above,  show- 
ing the  two  spreading  stamens  and  the  decidedly 
exceptional  unsymmetrical  position  of  the  long- 
style  extending  to  the  side.  A  small  nectar-seek- 
ing bumble-bee  has  approached  and  in  alighting 
upon  the  fringed  platform  grasped  the  filaments 
for  support  and  thus  clapped  the  pollen  against 
his  sides.  Reasoning  from  analogy,  it  would,  of 
course,  be  absolutely  clear  that  this  pollen  has  thus 
been  deposited  where  it  will  come  in  contact  with 
the  stigma  of  another  flower.  So,  of  course,  it 
proved.  In  the  bee's  continual  visits  to  the  several 
flowers  he  came,  at  length,  to  the  younger  blooms, 
where  the  forked  stigmas  were  turned  directly  to- 
ward the  front,  while  the  immature  stamens  were 
still  curled  up  in  the  flower-tubes.  Even  the  un- 


66    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


opened  buds  showed  a  number  of  species  where  the 
early  matured  stigma  actually  protruded  through 
a  tiny  orifice  in  precisely  the  right  position  to  strike 
the  pollen-dusted  body  of  the  bee,  as  he  forced  his 
tongue  through  the  aperture.  Since  the  above  was 
written  I  have  noted  the  larger  bumble-bees  upon 
the  blossoms.  These  insects  have  a  different  method 
of  approach,  hanging  beneath  the  flower,  the  anthers 
being  clapped  against  their  thorax  at  the  juncture 
of  the  wings,  instead  of  the  abdomen,  as  in  the 
smaller  bee."* 

Other  flowers  of  this  class  are  the  red  baneberry, 
the  blue  cohosh,  and  the  blood-root.  Doubtless 
many  more  plants  may  be  found  to  add  the  list, 
but  by  far  the  larger  number  of  flowers  perfect 
their  pollen  before  their  stig- 
mas. 


STAMENS  DEVELOPING 
BEFORE  STIGMAS 

(Called  "Proterandrous 
Dichogamy"") 

WILD  GERANIUM;  CRANESBILL 
Geranium    maculatum    (May-July) 

A    very    common    flower 
which  furnishes  us  with  an 

*My  Studio  Neighbours,   by  William 
Hamilton  Gibson. 


WILD  GERANIUM 

Cranesbill 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  67 

excellent  example  of  this  phase  of  cross-fertilisa- 
tion is  the  wild  geranium — excellent  because  it  is 
very  common  and  because  its 
organs  are  so  conspicuous  as  to 
be  easily  observed.  On  one  flower 
whose  stigma  is  yet  closed  we  dis- 
cover anthers  in  their  prime,  scat- 
tering pollen  in  copious  store 
upon  the  honey-bees  or  those  of 
the  genus  Halictus,,  or  the  syr- 
phid  flies  which  frequent 
it.  On  another  flower  we 
find  that  the  pollen  is  all 
gone,  the  stamens  are  mere 
bristles,  the  anthers  having 
withered  and  fallen  off, 
while  the  stigma  has  ex- 
panded and  is  evidently 
ready  to  receive  pollen. 


FIRE-WEED  ;  GREAT  WILLOW-HERB 
Epilobium  angustifolium 

Another  equally  typical  flower  is  the 
fireweed,  whose  showy  spikes  of  ma-  FIRE-WEED 
genta  pink  flowers  make  gay  the  newly  cleared 
grounds,  especially  the  burned  places,  in  July  and 


68     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

August.  Each  flower  has  but  four  petals,  and 
seems  to  have  lost  a  lower  one,  which  should  serve 
as  a  landing-stage,  but  we  may  be  sure  from  this 
that  it  desires  to  attract  visitors  who  sip  while  on 
the  wing. 

APPLE — Mains 
PEAR — Pyrus 

These  are  two  common  flowers,  simple  of  struc- 
ture and  easy  to  investigate  as  to  the  development 
of  their  anthers  and  their  stigmas.  They  are  espe- 
cially attractive  to  the  honey-bees,  each  tree  in 
bloom  becoming  vocal  with  their  humming.  I 
would  suggest  that  the  observer  watch  closely  the 
bee  at  work,  and  notice  that  he  gets  well  powdered 
with  pollen  about  his  head  and  chest  at  each  flower, 
and,  while  he  is  on  the  wing  to  another  blossom, 
he  takes  the  opportunity  to  rub  some  of  this  off, 
into  the  pollen-bags  of  his  hind  legs.  The  work  is 
done  in  a  twinkling,  but  it  is  the  secret  of  the  bee's 
efficiency  as  a  gatherer  of  pollen.  .What  he  rubs 
on  his  legs  he  is  sure  to  carry  home  to  his  hive, 
while  enough  remains  on  his  head  to  cross-fertilise 
the  next  blossom  he  visits. 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  69 

LONG-FLOWERED  TOBACCO 
Nicotiana  longiflora 

A  very  beautiful 
garden  flower,  occa- 
sionally escaping  from 
cultivation,  which  at 
night  produces  great 

quantities  of  lovely  white  flowers,  redolent  with 
heavy  perfume,  and  richly  stored  with  honey 
for  the  night-moths.  By  day  the  plant  appears 
positively  shabby,  with  its  numerous  faded  and 
wilted  flowers;  but  these  seem  to  absorb  new  life 
from  the  coolness  of  evening,  and  at  night  are  all 
again  stately  and  alluring.  I  was  curious  concern- 
ing two  points  in  this  flower:  first,  how  the  pollen 
which  filled  the  opening  of  the  throat  was  kept 
from  the  stigma;  and,  second,  what  was  the  use  of 
the  abnormally  lengthened  tube — too  long  for  the 
tongue  of  any  of  our  insects  to  sound. 

One  night  I  made  sections  of  a  great  many 
flowers  and  buds  and  found  that  the  pollen  was 
shed  just  before  the  first  opening  of  the  flower, 
the  anthers  bursting  and  opening  out  into  curious 
little  capsules  resembling  cocked-hats.  In  older 
flowers  whose  pollen  had  been  removed  the  pistil 
had  turned  to  a  dark  brown  colour,  and  had  split 
into  a  cross-shaped  spear  on  the  front  face  of  the 


70    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


BOUNCING  BET  OR 
SOAPWORT 


stigma,    as    seen    in    the    sketch. 
Thus  I  discovered  the  flowers  to 
be  dichogamous.  The  long 
tube  I  found  to  be  a  veri- 
table  reservoir   of  honey, 
which  flowed  down  the  in- 
cline  so   as   to   be   within 
reaching  distance  of  the  open- 
ing.    An  unusual  construction 
to  be  noted  is  the  insertion  of 
the  stamens  far  down  the  tube, 
at  about  one-third  of  its  length, 
though  of  course  the  pistil  nec- 
essarily must  traverse  the  whole 
distance   to   the   ovary   in   the 
calyx. 


BOUNCING  BET — Saponaria  officmalis 

This  is  a  very  common  weed  which  came  over 
from  Europe  to  seek  its  fortune  in  the  New  World, 
with  such  success  that  it  has  spread  far  and  wide 
as  a  wild  flower.  Its  other  name,  soapwort,  comes 
from  the  fact  that  the  juicy  sap  of  its  stem,  when 
mixed  with  water,  produces  a  lather.  The  figure 
shows  a  section  of  the  flower  in  its  first  stage,  on 
opening,  where  the  anthers  with  pollen  are  well 
in  advance  of  the  throat  of  the  corolla,  while  the 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  71 

stigma  is  yet  undeveloped  and  hidden  in  the  tube. 
After  the  pollen  is  shed  this  latter  elongates  and 
opens  to  receive  the  vivifying  touch  of  an  insect. 

Notice  that  some  of  the  stamens  wear  a  little 
pointed  hood,  protecting  their  anthers,  apparently 
as  a  rain-shelter. 

Also  another  peculiarity  should  be  remarked :  At 
the  base  of  each  petal  are  two  little  points,  or  spurs, 
which  act  both  as  barriers  against  rain  and  to  pre- 
vent the  entrance  of  small,  crawling  insects,  whose 
visits  are  not  desired. 


First  night  Second  night  Third  night 

NIGHT-FLOWERING  CATCH-FLY 

NIGHT-FLOWERING  CATCH-FLY — Silene   noctiflora 

Like  the  Saponaria,  this  is  one  of  the  pink  family 
which  immigrated  to  America  from  the  Old  World 
and  brought  with  it  strange,  foreign  habits  worth 
studying.  It  has  a  way  of  opening  its  petals  three 
nights  in  succession.  Notice  that  there  are  five 
petals,  and  ten  stamens,  five  of  these  opposite  the 
petals,  and  five  alternating  with  them. 


72     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

The  first  night  the  opposite  stamens  shed  their 
pollen,  and  for  a  few  hours  the  flower  is  fragrant, 
attracting  the  night-moths. 

The  second  night  the  petals  open  again,  the 
fragrance  has  come  again,  and  the  alternate  stamens 
are  offering  their  pollen. 

The  third  night,  when  the  petals  roll  back  for 
the  last  time,  all  the  anthers  have  fallen,  the  fila- 
ments curl  back,  leaving  the  way  clear  for  the  open 
stigma  to  advance  and  receive  the  magic  touch  of 
the  moth. 

It  is  probable  that  the  lure  of  fragrance  thrice 
renewed  is  accompanied  by  nectar  rising  in  three 
succeeding  tides. 

In  the  Umbelliferce — such  as  the  Angelica — the 
honey  is  exposed  in  open,  saucer-shaped  cups,  where 
it  can  be  obtained  readily  by  throngs  of  short- 
tongued  insects.  In  a  whole  head  all  the  stigmas 
develop  after  all  the  pollen  has  been  shed ;  thus  the 
whole  flower-head  changes  from  the  staminate  to 
the  pistillate  condition.  Accordingly,  whatever 
pollen  is  received  by  the  pistils  must  come  from 
another  flower-head,  and  not  from  an  adjoining 
floret,  thus  obtaining  a  wider  range  of  cross-fertili- 
sation with  all  the  attendant  advantages. 


PERFECT  FLOWERS         73 

CLOSED  GENTIAN 

Gentiana  Andre  wsii 

August-Sept. 

FRINGED  GENTIAN 

Gentiana  crinita 

.  Sept -Oct. 

It  seems  a  pity  to 
destroy  any  of  these 
beautiful  flowers,  but 
we  must  sacrifice  one 
of  each  in  the  inter- 
ests of  science,  mak- 
ing sections  of  them 
down  their  centre. 
Thus  we  shall  see 
that  the  stamens, 
shorter  than  the  pis- 
tils, develop  their 
pollen  first,  and  shed 
it  outward;  also  that 
the  pistils  are  like 
tall  green  vases,  and 
that  their  stigmas 

.      ,.,  .    ,  CLOSED   AND    FRINGED   GENTIANS 

part  like  two  moist 

lips,  presenting  a  sensitive  surface  on  the  upper 

side. 

These  flowers,  standing  so  erect  upon  their  stems, 


74    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

might  form  veritable  funnels  to  catch  the  dew  and 
rain,  but,  to  keep  their  pollen  dry,  the  fringed 
gentian  closes  in  cloudy  or  wet  weather,  and  the 
closed  gentian  never  opens  at  all.  For  this  reason 
it  has  been  thought  that  the  latter  flower  was  self- 
fertilised — a  thing  most  unlikely  on  account  of  the 
positions  and  the  successive  maturing  of  the  stamens 
and  pistils.  The  colour,  too,  shows  that  this  gentian 
strives  to  attract  bees  who  alight  upon  it  and  tear 
apart  the  petals,  as  we  would  force  our  hands  into 
a  closed  bag  of  peanuts.  I  have  once  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  a  bumblebee  thus  enter  a  closed 
gentian  with  an  assurance  that  proved  he  was  an 
old  burglar,  experienced  in  "breaking  and  taking." 
Many  flowers,  as  we  know,  are  arranged  on  tall 
upright  stems,  forming  spikes  most  graceful  to 
look  upon,  and  collectively  most  attractive  to  the 
bees.  But  have  we  noticed  that,  as  a  rule,  the  lower 
flowers  open  first,  and  that  the  blooming  proceeds 
upward?  Have  we  discovered  that  usually  the 
stamens  develop  when  each  flower  opens,  and  that 
the  pistil  matures  later,  making  the  upper  flowers, 
newly  opened,  staminate  flowers,  and  the  lower  and 
older  flowers  pistillate  ones?  Such,  however,  is  the 
case  in  many  flowers  growing  in  this  way.  We  have 
but  to  examine  the  mints,  the  lobelias,  the  larkspurs, 
to  assure  ourselves  of  the  facts,  and  perhaps  to  dis- 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  75 

cover  the  reason;  for  we  shall  doubtless  see  a  bee 
approach,  pay  his  first  call  upon  the  flower  lowest 
in  the  spire,  and  then,  winding  upward  as  if  he 
were  climbing  a  spiral  stair,  visit  all  the  flowers  in 
the  order  of  their  opening.  Thus,  if  he  has  brought 
pollen  from  elsewhere,  he  will  be  sure  to  leave  it 
on  the  lower  stigmas,  ripe  and  ready  to  receive  it, 
and  he  will  depart  well  powdered  with  pollen  from 
the  upper  flowers  newly  blown.  And  we  shall  see 
the  bee  fly  to  another  spire  of  flowers  of  the  same 
variety,  for  such  is  his  instinct  and  habit,  and  there 
again  he  will  begin  at  the  lowest  flower,  and  con- 
tinue as  before,  doing  the  day's  work  that  he  has 
planned  for  himself,  but,  incidentally,  and  all  un- 
consciously, carrying  pollen  from  flower  to  flower, 
and  helping  to  create  other  flowers  for  other  bees 
to  visit  another  summer  day.  We  have  already 
remarked  that  the  wasps  pay  their  visits  in  the 
reverse  order,  and  that  their  favourite  flowers  re- 
verse the  order  of  blooming,  likewise. 

I  wish  the  reader  to  consider  the  marvellous  man- 
ner in  which  the  flower  has  arranged  its  own  habits 
to  conform  to  the  tastes  and  customs  of  its  most 
welcome  and  cherished  guest.  Each  single  flower 
does  its  best  to  please,  by  assuming  the  most  at- 
tractive colour,  putting  out  a  convenient  landing- 
stage,  breathing  forth  the  most  alluring  perfume, 


76    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

and  then  serving  pollen  and  nectar  where  they  are 
most  conveniently  consumed ;  in  short,  treating  the 
guest  like  a  spoiled  and  pampered  favourite. 

Then,  notice  that  these  separate  flowers  work 
together,  blooming  and  shedding  pollen  as  the  bee 
wills  it,  and  thus,  by  suave  and  courteous  treatment, 
getting  the  most  that  the  bee  can  give.  This  fine 
hospitality,  and  conformity  in  the  habits  of  the 
flowers  with  those  of  the  bee,  even  to  the  uttermost 
detail,  seems  to  me  to  indicate  either  that  flowers 
think  and  plan  their  own  lives,  or  else  that  they  are 
moulded  and  modified  by  an  all-pervading  Con- 
sciousness which  makes  all  things  and  finds  them 
good. 

If  the  bee  were  the  blundering,  heedless  fellow 
that  his  appearance  and  his  habits  imply,  the 
chances  for  the  transfer  of  a  little  pinch  of  pollen 
dust  from  one  minute  point  to  another  minute  point 
would  seem  exceedingly  precarious.  But  the  bee 
has  very  regular  habits,  after  all.  He  does  not 
zigzag  from  flower  to  flower,  as  is  generally  sup- 
posed, but,  on  one  round  from  his  hive,  he  sticks 
strictly  to  one  flower,  as  if  he  were  under  the  spell 
of  some  colour-charm,  or  obsessed  with  the  desire 
for  some  sweet  perfume.  You  will  find  much  en- 
tertainment in  watching  certain  bees  invariably 
visiting  flowers  of  the  same  kind  in  a  gay  border, 


PERFECT  FLOWERS 


77 


while  avoiding  others  often  more 
showy  and  more  fragrant.  Thus  he 
is  sure  to  distribute  pollen  among 
flowers  of  the  same  kind. 

A  curious  and  unexpected  result 
follows  this  mode  of  cross-fertilisa- 
tion. Any  gardener  will  notice  that 
seeds  are  formed  only  on  the  lower 
portions  of  any  spike,  the  reason  for 
this  being  that,  by  the  time  the  upper 
buds  have  bloomed,  shed  their  pollen 
and  ripened  their  pistils,  all  the 
flowers  in  the  vicinity  have  done  the 
same  and  there  is  no  more  pollen  to 
be  had;  hence  all  the  upper  flow- 
ers fade  without  fertilisation  tak- 
ing place. 

BELLFLOWER — Campanula  rapunculoides 
June-Sept. 

Let  us  take  the  bellflower, 
one  of  our  most  winning  native 
flowers,  as  an  illustration  which  exhibits  inter- 
esting peculiarities  of  its  own.  Each  flower  is 
graceful  in  form  and  attractive  in  colour,  but  the 
lure  and  the  charm  of  the  bellflowers  reside  un- 
doubtedly in  their  assemblage  in  long,  tapering 


BELLFLOWER 


78    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


spires,  with  just  enough  symmetry  to  make  a  deco- 
rative feature  in  any  situation.  These  lovely  bells, 
many  times  repeated,  in  varying  sizes  and  positions, 
offer  a  study  of  unity  in  variety  worthy  of  the 
cleverest  pen  or  brush.  Moreover,  they  display 
within  their  fragile  bells  an  arrangement  of  stamens 
and  pistils  in  progressive  stages  of  development, 
which  we  will  find  amazingly  in- 
teresting. Since  we  wish  to  follow 
it  through  its  phases  from  the  be- 
ginning, let  us  not  follow  the  bee 
but,  on  the  contrary,  begin  at  the 
top  of  the  spire  and  investigate 
some  buds,  slicing  them  open  from 
summit  to  base  with  a  sharp  knife. 
Within,  we  shall  find  a  group  of 
undeveloped  stamens,  closely  clasp- 
ing an  immature  pistil  which  is  about  as  long  as 
they  are. 

The  next  bud  below  shows  the  stamens  have  all 
curled  back  into  the  base  of  the  corolla,  leaving  a 
tube  of  pollen  clinging  to  the  style  of  the  pistil. 
The  flower  below  has  opened  to  receive  its  guests, 
and  we  see  bumblebees,  Halictus  bees,  and  bee-like 
flies  arriving,  and  invariably  clasping  the  pistil  as 
they  plunge  into  the  flower.  Thus  they  soon  take 
away  all  the  clinging  mass  of  pollen  on  their  bodies. 


MECHANISM  OF 
BELLFLOWER 


PERFECT  FLOWERS  79 

While  these  visits  are  proceeding  the  style  is 
growing  out  and  the  stigma  is  expanding,  so  that  in 
the  lower  flowers  we  find  it  fully  developed  and 
open  with  three  points  turned  back.  The  pollen  has 
all  disappeared  and  the  stamens  are  curled  up  and 
withered.  So  that  this  blossom,  which  can  have 
none  of  its  own  pollen,  is  ready  to  receive  and  hold 
fast  any  that  is  brought  to  it  by  a  bee  who  swoops 
down  to  it  from  the  upper  blossoms  of  the  bell- 
flower  which  he  last  visited. 

The  Venus's  looking-glass,  Canterbury-bell,  and 
Platycodon  exhibit  the  same  course  of  development. 
The  contrivance  of  stamens  and  pistils  is  in  reality 
a  simple  mechanism  for  bringing  about  cross-ferti- 
lisation, the  first  of  the  sort  we  have  seen,  but  hence- 
forward we  may  search  for  such  mechanisms,  of 
which  there  are  many. 

MINT  FAMILY 

All  the  members  of  the  Mint  family  which  I  have 
so  far  been  able  to  investigate,  with  the  exception 
of  the  horse-balm,  seem  to  have  the  common  habit 
of  developing  and  shedding  pollen  before  the  pistil 
ripens. 

The  Scutellaria,  as  in  the  sketch,  and  self- 
heal  (Prunella  vulgaris)  have  this  peculiarity  in 


80    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

their  stamens:  the  anther-cells  do  not 
both  develop.  Being  placed  in  the  hood 
of  the  flower,  the  front  anther-cell  alone 
would  touch  an  incoming  bee,  and  the 
back  anther-cell,  becoming  useless,  has 
been  abolished. 

SCUTELLARIA         ^^    j^    ^    ^^    ^^    howeyer> 

in  the  blue-curls. 

BLUE-CURLS — Trichostema  dicliotomum 

Here  the  stamens  are  elongated  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  emerge  entirely  from  the  hood  and  arch 
over  and  down  toward  the  lower  lip  of  the  flower. 
This  gives  the  flower  a  quaint,  odd  appearance,  as 
if  it  were  upside-down,  and  allows  all  the  anthers 
to  come  into  play,  rubbing  the  back  of  any  insect 
that  enters.  The  pis- 
til is  short  at  first,  but 
elongates  as  it  ripens. 

The  garden  sage 
goes  through  the  same 
course  of  develop- 
ment, but  in  addition 
has  perfected  a  most 
elaborate  mechanism 
which  will  be  de- 
scribed further  on.  BLUE -CURLS 


WILD  IRIS  AND  POND  LILY 


PERFECT  FLOWERS 


81 


Polygala  sanguinea 
July 

This  little  flower  is  so  inconspicuous  as  never  to 
have  won  for  itself  a  common  name,  yet  when  ex- 
amined closely  it  displays  a  sin- 
gularly interesting  form.  Upon 
a  leafy  stalk,  from  six  to  twelve 
inches  high,  grows  a  globular  or 
elongated  flower-cluster.  If  we 
remove  a  floret  from  the  cluster 
we  find  it  looks  like  a  wee  little 
bird  with  magenta  wings  and  a 
yellow  body.  The  wings  are  the 
two  loose  sepals  of  the  calyx,  and 
the  corolla  is  a  yellow  tube  with 
pistil  and  stamens  within.  The 
pistil  has  a  very  odd  shape,  with 
large  ovary  and  curved  style  sur- 
mounted by  a  knob-shaped  stig- 
ma. The  florets  develop  on  the 
spike  from  below  upward,  and  as 
they  shed  their  pollen  and  the 
stigma  matures,  the  little  yellow  corolla  assumes  a 
tone  of  magenta.  The  result  is  that  the  flower- 
spike  gradually  assumes  a  deeper  magenta,  pro- 
gressing upward  from  below;  and  consequently  we 
can  tell  from  the  colour  just  which  of  the  florets 
are  in  the  staminate  stage  and  which  have  developed 
their  pistils. 


POLYGALA  SAN- 
GUINEA 


CHAPTER  IV 

FLORAL    MECHANISMS 

IE  have  now  come 
to  the  interesting 
group  of  flowers 
which  seem  to 
have  invented  for  themselves 
ingenious  mechanisms  to  in- 
sure their  own  cross-fer- 
tilisation, and  to  prevent 
self-fertilisation.  Such  a 
mechanism  has  been  re- 
ferred to  in  the  case  of  the 
rose  pogonia,  as  we  saw  on 
page  8,  with  its  pollen  re- 
tained in  a  lidded  box  that 
opens  only  as  the  bee  makes 
its  backward  exit.  Practi- 
cally all  the  orchids  have 
mechanisms  more  or  less 

82 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  83 

complex,  but  many  less  rare  flowers  display  equal 
versatility  and  cunning.  On  every  botanical  ex- 
cursion I  have  discovered  some  secret  trick,  new 
to  me,  hidden  in  the  calyx  of  some  common  flower, 
and  I  suspect  that  there  are  many  hundreds  of 
such  delightful  surprises  yet  awaiting  us  afield. 

The  nightshade  puffs  its  pollen  from  a  minia- 
ture bellows,  the  Oswego  tea  catches  the  bee  in  a 
miniature  lasso,  the  cardinal  flower  pushes  out 
pollen  like  chopped  meat  from  a  sausage  stufFer, 
the  mountain  laurel  shoots  it  as  from  a  catapult, 
and  the  milkweed  hangs  its  pollen  on  the  leg  of 
the  bee,  like  a  ball-and-chain,  if  it  does  not  hold 
him  altogether  a  prisoner. 

The  strange  and  surprising  mechanisms  with 
which  the  flowers  make  sure  of  their  own  cross- 
fertilisation  are  so  various  and  so  dissimilar  that 
I  become  bewildered  in  attempting  to  classify  them. 
Every  flower  seems  to  be  a  law  unto  itself,  and  to 
have  worked  out  a  scheme  of  its  own  to  delude  the 
unsuspecting  insect.  Some  flowers  have  developed 
simple  devices  for  protecting  the  stigma  from  its 
own  pollen.  Then  there  are  arrangements  like  pis- 
tons for  pushing  forward  the  pollen,  so  that  it  will 
be  gathered  before  the  stigma  is  ready  for  any.  In 
other  cases  the  stamens  move  as  if  they  were  living 
tentacles,  or  springs  of  a  catapult,  to  dust  the  visi- 


84    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

tor  with  pollen.  And  besides  all  these,  there  are 
countless  inventions,  impossible  to  co-ordinate. 
They  remind  one  of  the  model  room  of  the  Patent 
Office.  Multitudes  of  miniature  working  models 
of  machines  are  assembled:  marvels  of  ingenuity 
and  fertility  of  invention.  But  our  floral  mechan- 
isms have  this  advantage  over  the  patented  proto- 
types— that  they,  at  least,  help  to  keep  the  plants 
alive,  and  to  aid  them  in  their  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, which  cannot  be  said  in  favour  of  all  products 
of  human  invention,  for  we  know  that  many  an 
inventor  has  starved. 

TURTLE-HEAD — Chelone  glabra 
July-Sept. 

This  flower  never  opens  its  mouth  very  wide,  nor 
does  it  show  its  pistil  very  conspicuously.  This,  as 
seen  in  the  sketch,  is  concealed  in  the  roof  of  the 
mouth,  the  stigma  just  above  the  opening,  where  it 
is  sure  to  touch  the  back  of  an  entering  bee.  Back 
of  this  the  four  stamens  cluster  into  a  sort  of  arbour 
or  bower,  united  by  their  furry  anthers,  which  are 
pressed  close  together,  in  pairs,  face  to  face,  thus 
holding  in  the  charge  of  pollen  till  the  right  mo- 
ment arrives. 

Watch  a  burly  bumblebee  arrive  with  some  pol- 
len on  his  back.  See  him  rub  some  of  his  charge 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


85 


on  the  stigma,  then  plunge  deep  into  the  downy 
throat  of  the  flower  and  probe  for  nectar.  But 
when  he  is  satisfied,  see  how  he  becomes  entangled 
under  the  little  bower  of  stamens,  how  he  struggles 
to  free  himself,  and,  in  so  doing,  pulls  the 
anthers  away  from  one  an- 
other, and  dusts  his  back 
with  the  fine,  white  pollen. 
The  anthers  do  not  return  to 
their  first  position,  but  remain 
forever  separated,  and  thus  we 
can  tell  that  a  flower  has  re- 
ceived a  visit.  Any  extra  pol- 
len left  over  is  seen  to  fall  back 
into  the  throat  of  the  flower, 
upon  its  downy  filling,  where 
it  may  yet  be  gathered  on  the 
face  and  head  of  another  bee, 
as  powderfrom  apowder-puff. 

As  the  pollen  is  locked  up  between  the  anthers 
until  the  bee  has  touched  the  stigma  and  fertilised 
it,  the  flower  is  practically  sure  that  none  of  its 
own  pollen  can  affect  it. 

Very  often  the  mechanism  of  the  flower  consists 
of  a  little  flap  or  valve  closing  at  the  proper  time 
over  the  stigma,  protecting  it  from  the  touch  of 
pollen  of  home  manufacture.  We  find  contrivances 


TURTLE-HEAD 


86    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

like  this  in  the  blue  flag,  the  trumpet-creeper, 
and  the  monkey  flower,  which  we  will  now 
examine. 

THE  LARGER  BLUE  FLAG — Iris  versicolor 
May-June 

The  iris  has  an  ingenious  mechanism  of  this  sort, 
which  works  unfailingly.  It  has  been  called  "The 
poor-man's  Orchid,"  and  its 
blossom  resembles  three  or- 
chid-blossoms, growing  back 
,to  back,  and  radiating  from 
a  common  axis. 

A  sectional  view  will  ex- 
plain the  construction  of  the 
flower,  and  how  it  works  to 
procure  cross  -  fertilisation. 
In  the  centre  of  the  flower  just  above 
the  ovary  is  a  well  of  nectar,  and  out 
of  the  centre  of  this  rises  a  stalk  which 
soon   separates   into   three   branches 
that  resemble  purple  petals.     They 
bend  outward  and  downward  and  are 

tipped  with  two  ears  and  a  tongue. 
WILD  mis    Then  there   are  three  erect  purpie 

petals,  surrounding  the  centre  of  the  flower,  and, 
lastly,  the  three  conspicuous,  drooping  petals  or 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  87 

"flags,"  rich  purple  in  colour,  and  marked  with  dark 
veins.  These  latter  attract  the  attention  of  the 
bumblebees,  and  form  a  welcome  landing-stage  for 
them.  But  where  are  the  very  important  pistils 
and  stamens?  We  have  seen,  without  recognizing, 
the  former  in  the  three-branched  structure  first 
described,  which  consists  in  reality  of  three  styles; 
and  the  stigmas  are  the  little  tongues  at  their  outer 
ends,  but  the  stigmatic  surface  of  each,  sensitive 
and  receptive,  is  on  the  upper  and  outer  side 
only. 

Now,  to  find  the  stamens,  we  must  lift  up  or  cut 
away  one  of  these  arching  styles.  Hidden  close 
under  it  we  will  discover  the  anther  laden  with 
pollen. 

The  bumblebee,  a  frequent  visitor  to  the  iris, 
seems  to  know  exactly  what  is  expected  of  him,  for, 
alighting  on  the  drooping  petal,  and  following  the 
guide-lines  of  its  veins,  he  crawls  crouching  under 
the  arched  pistil  and  down  the  low-vaulted  pas- 
sageway it  forms,  till  he  is  able  to  reach  down  into 
the  nectary  with  his  proboscis  and  drink  his  fill. 
But,  to  leave  these  close  quarters,  he  must  back 
out,  and  in  so  doing  must  necessarily  brush  his  hairy 
shoulders  against  the  anther,  dusting  himself  with 
pollen.  Backing  still  farther,  he  passes  under  the 
little  tongue,  which,  lifting,  closes  against  the  ears 


88    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

above,  thus  protecting  the  stigmatic  surface  from 
any  of  the  pollen  of  home  production. 

But  the  bee  is  now  free  to  go  to  another  flower, 
carrying  his  pollen  load  just  where  it  will  strike  the 
stigma.  However,  as  he  passes  under  the  arched 
canopy  of  the  new  flower,  the  little  tongue  will  act 
not  as  a  valve  to  close,  but  as  a  scoop  to  scrape 
the  pollen  off  upon  the  stigma. 

While  the  iris  has  ever  been  admired  because  of 
its  grace  and  beauty,  I  believe  that  the  reader  will 
find  it  still  more  interesting  on  account  of  its  in- 
genious adaptation  to  the  work  it  has  to  accomplish. 

TRUMPET-CREEPER — Tecoma  radicans 
August-Sept. 

Though  in  no  way  related  to  the  foregoing 
flower,  the  trumpet-creeper  has  learned  in  some 
way  its  secret  device  and  makes  use  of  its  patent 
without  paying  royalty.  In  the  showy  trumpet- 
flowers  we  find  pistils  terminating  in  valve-like 
stigmas,  which  act  exactly  like  those  of  the  iris. 
The  stamens  are  concealed  in  the  roof  of  the  flower, 
their  four  anthers  being  arranged  in  two  groups, 
as  seen  in  the  figure.  Being  a  native  of  the  South- 
ern States,  where  humming-birds  are  common,  the 
flowers  have  so  arranged  their  form,  position,  and 
colour  as  to  offer  an  attractive  welcome  to  the 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  89 

humming-birds.  The  mechanism  acts  precisely 
like  that  of  the  iris,  scraping  pollen  from  an 
ar  r  i  v  ing 
humming- 
bird, but 
closing  as 
he  with- 
draws with 
home- 
grown  pol- 
len on  his 
head. 

TRUMPET  VINE 

The  trum- 
pet-creeper illustrates  a  principle  in  the  fertilisa- 
tion of  flowers  which  we  should  point  out.  I  have 
noticed  that  our  own  trumpet-vine  rarely  sets  any 
seed-pods,  and  find  in  this  fact  the  illustration  of 
a  principle  in  the  fertilisation  of  flowers  which 
should  be  explained. 

In  general,  flowers  are  more  easily  fertilised  by 
pollen  taken  from  the  flowers  of  another  plant — 
less  sensitive  to  pollen  taken  from  another  part  of 
their  own  plant,  and  scarcely  sensitive  or  entirely 
sterile  to  pollen  taken  from  their  own  anthers.  As 
a  demonstration,  Fritz  Miiller  fertilised  a  Brazilian 
species  of  the  Bignonia,  which  is  the  family  name  of 
our  trumpet-creeper,  with  the  following  result: 


90    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

(1)  Twenty-nine  flowers  on  two   stocks  with 
pollen  of  their  own  stock.    All  fell  off  in  a  short 
time. 

(2)  Thirty  flowers  on  the  same  two  stocks  with 
pollen  from  others  growing  nearby.      Only  two 
flowers  developed  fully,  but  most  of  them  remained 
longer  upon  the  stem  than  in  the  previous  case,  and 
many  showed  a  commencing  enlargement  of  the 
ovary. 

(3)  Five  flowers  on  one  stock  with  pollen  from 
another  growing  at  a  distance.    All  were  fruitful. 

As  our  trumpet-vines  in  the  North  are  few  and 
far  between,  they  do  not  get  that  crossing  of  the 
pollen  from  vines  widely  separated,  so  necessary 
for  making  seeds.  It  is  stated  by  Miiller  that  the 
valve  on  the  stigma  of  the  trumpet-vine  closes  per- 
manently as  soon  as  it  has  received  any  pollen. 

MONKEY-FLOWER — Mimulus  ringens 
June-Sept, 

This  little  flower,  whose  saucy  corolla  seems  to 
betray  a  disposition  toward  quaint,  odd  habits  so 
much  resembles  a  face  that  we  must  speak  of  the 
pistil  as  a  "tongue" — a  most  sensitive  little  tongue 
with  a  slit  or  division  at  its  tip.  At  the  taste  of  the 
pollen  which  it  desires,  this  slit  in  the  tongue  closes 
and  holds  fast  the  dainty  morsel. 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  91 

OSWEGO  TEA;  BEE-BALM — Monarda  didyma 
July-Sept, 

This  member  of  the  Mint  family  has  an  interest- 
ing arrangement  of  pistils  and  stamens.  All  of 
them  are  held  up  out  of  way  of  insect  approach 
by  a  tube-like  fold  in  the  upper  petal.  I  have 
noticed,  however,  that  the  bases  of  the  filaments 
partly  bar  the  way  to 
the  throat  and  honey 
passage.  Therefore,  I 
tried  a  bristly  head, 
like  that  of  a  bee, 
thrusting  it  far  into  the 
throat;  and  upon  with- 
drawing it  I  entangled  the 
filaments  as  by  a  lasso,  pulled 
out  the  stamens,  separated 
the  anthers,  and  procured  a 
charge  of  pollen.  This  act  also 
liberated  the  unripe  pistil  which, 
developing  later,  and  falling  down,  was  now  in  a 
position  to  receive  other  pollen. 

Insect  visitors  are  the  bumblebee  and  butter- 
flies, Colias  philodice  and  black-and-tan  Danias 
archippus. 

Another  of  the  Mint  family  should  find  its  place 
here  among  the  remarkable  floral  mechanisms. 


92    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


GARDEN  SAGE — Salvia  officinalis 

The  flowers   grow  in   a  graceful 
spire,  and  bloom  from  below  upward. 
Here,  again,  we  must  make  sec- 
tions of  an  unopened  flower  to  un- 
derstand clearly  the  workings  of 
its  scheme.     In  the  buds  we  find 
the   beginnings   of  four   stamens, 
but  two  of  these  at  the  back  of  the 
throat  are  destined  to  remain  as 
little  embryo  things,  coming  to 
nought.      The    pair    in    front 
promise  at  first  to  bear  anthers 
of  the  usual  sort — two  capsules 
on  a  long  filament — as  seen  in 
the    first    diagram.      But    the 
anther-cells  gradually  separate 
from  each  other,  growing  wider 
and  wider  apart,  till  they  stand 
facing  each  other  on  the  tips  of 
SAGE  a    crescent.      Then    the    inner 

anther-cell,  nearest  the  throat  of  the  flower, 
fades  and  falls,  and  the  little  crescent  becomes 
hinged  on  its  support  so  that  it  rises  and  falls 
with  the  remaining  cell  full  of  pollen,  just  as  an 
old-fashioned  well-sweep  rises  and  falls  with  its 
bucket. 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  93 

Now  the  flower  is  ready  to  open  and  to  receive 
the  call  of  a  bee.  For  such  a  visit  it  has  not  long 
to  wait,  for  the  bee  has  already  come  to  the  flowers 
lower  down  on  the  spike,  and  gladly  mounts  to 
this  one,  newly  opened,  with  its  fresh 
store  of  nectar.  He  crawls  deep  into 
the  blossom;  and  in  reaching  down 
for  nectar  he  strikes  his  head  against 
the  inner  end  of  one  of  the  crescents, 
causing  it  to  tilt  and  bob  down  its 
anther  bucket,  thus  spilling  pollen 
upon  his  back. 

But  Nature  sees  to  it  that  he  does 
not  self -fertilise  the  flower.  The  pis- 
til is  still  too  short  to  reach  his  back, 
so  the  bee,  having  finished  with  the 
youngest  flower  of  the  spike,  carries 
his  burden  away  to  an  older  flower, 
low  down  upon  another  spike:  a 
flower  which  has  been  open  a  day  or  DEVELOPMENT 
more,  and  whose  pistil  has  so  elon-  OF  ANTHERS 

OF  SAGE 

gated  and  curved  downward   as  to 

obstruct  the  entrance  and  surely  to  take  up  some 

pollen  from  the  bee  passing  under. 

Thus  is  cross-fertilisation  accomplished.  It  is 
an  important  business,  even  though  the  trick  con- 
trivance of  the  pollen  duster  reminds  us  of  the 


94    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

pranks  and  capers  and  practical  jokes  of  merry- 
makers in  carnival  time. 

The  perfect  adjustment  of  the  apparatus  and  its 
unfailing  operation  fills  us  with  astonishment,  and 
leads  us  to  wonder  if  some  superior  intelligence, 
some  deus  ex  machina,  devised  it,  and  created  it 
all  out  of  the  delicate  and  fragile  material  of  which 
all  flowers  are  built.  But  as  such  speculations  are 
unscientific  we  must  postpone  them  till  such  time 
as  we  shall  have  fuller  knowledge  from  which  to 
make  deductions. 

Most  of  the  floral  mechanisms  are  economic  de- 
vices to  save  pollen  and  to  make  the  most  of  the 
precious  stuff.  The  great  pine-trees  may  scatter 
their  pollen  by  the  bucketful  upon  the  wind,  and 
the  Indian  corn  may  throw  it  away  in  wanton  pro- 
fusion, but  the  flowers  seem  to  have  learned  to  be 
thrifty  with  theirs — at  times  even  parsimonious. 

The  bellflower,  where  the  stamens  fall  away, 
leaving  the  pollen  clustering  about  the  pistil,  is  a 
little  too  lavish;  and  its  relatives,  the  lobelias,  have 
improved  upon  its  ways. 

PALE  SPIKED  LOBELIA — Lobelia  spicata 
July-August 

This  flower  presents  a  decided  improvement  upon 
the  bellflower.  The  stamens  similarly  unite  into 
a  tube  around  the  undeveloped  pistil,  and  shed  and 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  95 

retain  their  pollen  within.  Then  the  stigma  grows, 
elongating  its  style,  and  shoving  forward  its  curious, 
star-shaped  stigma,  which,  acting  like  a  piston  in 
a  cylinder,  gradually  pushes  before  it  the  charge  of 
pollen. 

Now  of  course  the  pollen  must  escape,  so  it 
emerges  through  a  small  opening  at  the  outer  end 
of  the  stamens,  a  little  at 
a,  time.  If  we  take  away 
the  supply  more  is  pushed 
out,  reminding  us  of  a 
minute  sausage-stuif  er  at 
work,  squeezing  out  its 
meat.  When  at  length 
all  the  pollen  has  gone, 

.  i  PALE   SPIKED  LOBELIA 

out    comes    the    stigma, 

and  becomes  adhesive  and  ready  for  the  touch  of 

some  pollen  from  another  flower. 

CARDINAL  FLOWER — Lobelia  cardinalis 
August-Sept. 

This  flower  supplies  its  pollen  in  small  instal- 
ments in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  the  pale  spiked 
lobelia,  and  it  is  more  convenient  to  study  because 
its  working  parts  are  so  much  larger. 

We  might  almost  assume  that  the  piston-and- 
cylinder  scheme  had  been  invented  by  the  lobelias, 
and  then  the  idea  had  been  appropriated  by  the 


96      MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


LOBELIA  CARDINALIS 


numerous  families  of  the 
Composites ;  for  each  and 
all  of  them  have  adopted 
a  similar  mechanism. 
When    we    speak    of    a 
daisy,   thistle,  or  some  other 
branch  of  this  family,  we  mean 
the  flower-head,  composed  of 
an  enormous  number  of  mi- 
nute   florets    packed    closely 
together,  competing  with  one  another,  yet  work- 
ing together  for  the  good  of  their  race. 

These  little  flowers  are  of  two  kinds:  tubular 
flowers,  as  seen  in  the  sketch  of  the  Joe  Pye  weed, 
and  ray  flowers,  as  seen  in  that  of  the  lion's-foot. 
Both  kinds  are  found  in  the  head  of  the  Black-eyed 
Susan,  the  white  daisy,  the  sunflower.  They  are 
quite  variable  as  to  their  stamens  and  pistils,  some- 
times being  perfect  flowers,  sometimes  pistillate 
only,  and  again  they  are  neuter  or  sterile. 

JOE  PYE  WEED — Eupatorium  purpureum 
August-Sept. 

In  late  summer  every  moist  place  is  crowded  with 
a  dense  growth  of  so-called  weeds,  of  various  forms 
and  hues,  but  old  Joe  Pye  towers  above  them  all, 
lending  a  dignity  and  charm  of  colour,  and  the 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


97 


scene  reminds  us  of  a  town  in  the  Old  World  domi- 
nated by  a  cathedral  tower,  stately  and  sombre. 
The  purple  flower-clusters  are  made  up  of 
numerous  tubular,  perfect  flowers,  interspersed 
with  chaff.  A  small  cluster  is  shown  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  drawing,  on  the  left,  and  a  single  flower 
on  the  right,  both  greatly  enlarged. 

In  the  centre  of  each  flower  is 
a  pistil,  surrounded  and  clasped  by 
stamens  whose  anthers  unite  into 
a  tube  to  hold  the  pollen.  The 
corolla  consists  of  a  tube  opening 
out  in  five  curving  points. . 

When  these  first  expand  the  pis- 
til is  shorter  than  the  stamens,  but 
it  gradually  grows,  pushes  out  the 
pollen  where  the  bees  can  get  it, 
and  then,  still  elongating,  develops 
its  stigma  to  be  fertilised. 

In  daisies  and  dahlias  we  can 
see  a  very  pretty  demonstration 
of  this  action.  Around  the  base 
of  the  central  flower-cluster  we  see 
a  ring  of  pollen  like  a  golden 
crown.  Watching  the  flower  from 
day  to  day,  we  see  this  ring  climb 
higher  and  higher,  as  the  suc- 


JOE   PYE   WEED 


98      MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


The 


BLACK-EYED  SUSAN 


cessive  rows  of  pistils  grow, 
and  if  the  pollen  is  not  gath- 
ered by  bees  it 
will  fall  upon  the 
ground  as  a  fine, 
yellow  powder, 
sectional  sketch  of 
the  Black-eyed  Susan  shows 
the  flowers  in  successive 
stages  of  their  development :  buds  above ;  then  open 
flowers  with  pollen  appearing;  yet  lower,  the  ex- 
panded stigmas;  and,  lastly,  the  pistils  fallen  and 
the  seed  maturing. 

Ray  flowers  have  the  same  construction  and  ac- 
tion as  the  tubular  flowers,  and  are  but  a  more 
showy  development  of  them. 

LION'S-FOOT — Prenanthis   serpentaria 
July-Sept. 

At  first  glance  this  resembles  a  minute  lily,  but 
upon  examination  it  proves  to  be  made  up  of  numer- 
out  perfect  ray  flowers  as  shown  in  the  sketch.  At 
the  right  hand  is  a  single  flower,  separately. 

The  corolla,  which  in  Joe  Pye  is  a  tube,  is  here 
split  open,  flattened  out,  and  curved  back.  But 
the  five  little  points  are  still  ornamenting  its  outer 
edge;  and  we  find  a  suggestion  of  these  points  in 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  99 

the  varied  tips  of  the  rays  of  daisies  and  sun- 
flowers. 


LION'S-FOOT 

In  the  Composite  family  there  are  various  com- 
binations of  tubular  flowers  and  ray  flowers;  the 
latter  are  often  pistillate  only,  as  in  the  common 
daisy,  but  often  without  stamens  or  pistils,  as  in 
the  Black-eyed  Susan.  The  ray  flowers  put  forth 
their  banners  in  order  to  attract  the  insects  to  alight 
upon  them,  then  crawl  over  the  flower-head  and 
scatter  pollen  of  the  upper  flowers  downward  upon 
the  waiting  stigmas,  thus  insuring  cross-fertilisation 
within  the  flower  colony,  or  taking  some  away  to 
the  next  flower  visited. 

The  arrangement  of  the  Composites  has  the  fol- 
lowing in  its  favour: 


100     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

Combination  of  flowers  make  them  con- 
spicuous. 

Nectar  is  easy  of  access. 

Pollen  mechanism  is  an  obstacle  to  self- 
fertilisation  but  favours  cross-fertilisa- 
tion. 

Insects  may  visit  many  flowers  in  a  very 
short  time. 

Long  seasons  procure  many  visits  from 
many  kinds  of  insects. 

(Miiller  states  that  152  kinds  have  been 
counted  as  visiting  a  single  flower  of 
this  family.) 

The  close  packing  of  the  flowers  among  the 
Composites  shows  the  excellence  of  the  team-work; 
for  this  family  has  prevailed  over  many  others  in 
the  struggle  for  existence,  as  witness  the  extraor- 
dinary success  with  which  the  ox-eye  daisy,  an  im- 
migrant from  Europe,  has  flourished  and  spread 
until  it  has  won  the  name  of  "The  Farmer's  Curse." 

VIOLETS  AND  PANSIES 

The  violets  of  the  woods,  and  their  aristocratic 
relatives,  the  pansies  of  the  garden,  have  their 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


101 


anthers  arranged  close  about  the  pistil  to  hold  the 
pollen  and  deliver  it  at  the  moment  it  is  called  for. 
The  figure  shows  a  section  of  the  pansy  with  the 
stamens  clasping  the  style,  and  the  anthers,  which 
open  inward,  shedding  their  pollen.  The  stigma 
protrudes  and  opens  like  the  tip  of  an  elephant's 
trunk,  with  two  small  lips.  Now,  supposing  the 
bee  arrives  with  pollen  on  his  head  and  back.  He 
is  sure  to  deposit  some  of  it  upon  the  stigma,  then, 
in  reaching  for  nectar,  he 
will  disturb  the  position  of 
the  stamens,  and  thus  set 
free  fresh  pollen  and  re- 
ceive a  shower  of  it  on  his 
head  and  back.  Now  he 
backs  out  and  we  might 
expect  him  to  leave  some 
of  this  fresh  pollen  on  the  PANSY 

stigma;  but  the  lower  lip  of  the  latter  closes  up 
over  his  head,  and  self-fertilisation  is  thus  pre- 
vented, just  as  is  the  case  in  the  iris. 

It  is  amusing  to  notice  that  the  bumblebees  and 
honey-bees,  habitual  visitors,  usually  alight  upon 
the  broad  lower  petal,  then  whirl  around  to  the 
upper  petals,  with  their  heads  downward,  this  re- 
versed position  giving  them  better  access  to  the 
nectar-well  within. 


102     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


NIGHTSHADE 


NIGHTSHADE — Solanum  Dulcamara 
Again  we  find  the  ingrowing 
anthers,  and  the  pollen  tube 
formed  thereby,  in  flowers  of  the 
Nightshade  or  Solanum  family — 
the  potato,  tomato,  and  Jimson- 
weed.  The  fact  that  the  anthers 
form  a  close  pollen-chamber, 
opening  only  in  two  small 
pores  or  "chinks"  at  the 
apex,  set  me  to  speculating 
as  to  their  secret  mode  of  shedding  pollen.  At 
last  I  suspected  that  the  pollen-chamber  was  an 
air-bag  intended  to  blow  out  the  pollen  when  com- 
pressed by  some  clasping  insect,  just  as  the  little 
sand-stars  blow  out  their  spores  when  touched.  To 
test  this  I  took  a  flower  of  the  nightshade  and 
placed  it  upon  a  strip  of  glass,  and  at  the  apex 
of  the  anthers  put  a  drop  of  adhesive  Canada 
balsam.  Then,  with  a  quick  movement,  I  flattened 
the  little  balloon  formed  by  the  anthers,  thus  com- 
pressing the  air  within.  I  now  examined  my  Can- 
ada balsam  under  the  microscope,  and  was  grati- 
fied to  find  a  little  cloud  of  pollen-grains  ad- 
hering, like  a  cloud  of  smoke  around  a  cannon's 
mouth. 

Thus  I  believe  I  have  solved  the  mystery  of  the 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


103 


flowers  of  the  Solanum  family.  Their  stigmas 
protrude  and  are  fertilised;  then  the  pollen  ripens 
in  the  little  balloon  and  remains  there  till  some  in- 
sect alights  upon  it,  hugs  it  roughly  for  a  support, 
and  thereby  fires  the  charge  of  pollen,  some  of  which 
is  sure  to  adhere  to  his  abdomen.  The  sketch 
shows  clearly  the  arrangement  and  action  of  the 

parts. 

DOWNY  FALSE  FOXGLOVE — Geradia  flava 
July- August 

When  prying  into  the  secrets  of  this  flower,  I 
was  delighted  to  discover  a  new  floral  mechanism. 
I  found  that  each  of  the  four  stamens  bore  anthers 
with  little 
spikes,  much 
like  the  barbs 
on  fish-hooks, 
and  reasoned 
that  these  lit- 
tle appendages 
were  meant  to  hook  fast 
upon  the  insect  visit- 
or, and  then  do  some  work 
in  the  delivery  of  pollen. 
So,  with  a  pin-point,  I  pulled 
at  these  hooks  and  beheld  the 
anthers  immediately  open  and  GERARDIA  FLAVA 


104    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

discharge  some  pollen.  I  had  the  combination, 
and  could  open  the  storehouse  at  pleasure.  No 
need  to  see  the  Peacock  butterfly  at  his  work.  The 
dent.  If  the  butterfly  brings  pollen  he  will  deposit 
some  on  the  prominent  pistil;  then,  thrusting  his 
head  into  the  corolla  in  search  of  sweets,  he  is  pretty 
sure  to  get  entangled  in  some  of  the  hooks  of  the 
anthers,  and  in  freeing  himself  he  will  set  the  mys- 
terious springs  in  motion,  throw  open  the  little  pol- 
len safes,  and  bear  away  some  of  their  precious 
horde  to  another  waiting  flower. 

The  sketch  shows  a  cluster  of  flowers  and  buds, 
and  two  stamens  greatly  enlarged,  the  anthers  of 
the  one  closed,  and  those  of  the  other  with  hooks 
pulled,  doors  open,  and  pollen  falling  out. 

THE  BEAN  FAMILY 

Among  plants  as  among  human  beings,  some  odd 
peculiarities  seem  to  "run  in  families,"  and  to 
be  more  pronounced  in  some  members  than  in 
others.  Let  us  quiz  the  manners  of  the  members 
of  the  Bean  family,  and  see  how  some  behave. 
Some  of  them  are  pronounced  misers,  and  are  very 
stingy  with  their  pollen  store.  In  almost  every 
case  they  keep  it  shut  up  in  a  boat-shape  receptacle, 
and  cover  this  with  a  neat  roof. 


THE  LUPIN 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  105 

Dr.  Henry  Smith  .Williams  in  his  Life  and  Work 
of  Burbank  tells  us  that  the  peas  and  beans 
of  the  vegetable  garden  keep  all  their  pollen  at 
home  and  are  self-fertilising.  However,  the  flow- 
ering sweet  pea,  the  pink  locust  arid  the  lupin  bear 
evidence  in  their  flowers  that  they  invite  the  bees 
to  enter.  The  colour  and  fragrance  alone  show 
this  intention,  and  the  mechanism  is  perfectly  com- 
prehensible. Glanc- 
ing at  the  sketch, 
we  see  that  the  sta- 
mens and  pistil  are 
protected  from  rain 
and  marauders  in 

the     boat  -  shaped 

,  "         ...  SWEET  PEA 

lower   petal,   which 

forms  a  handy  landing-stage,  but  one  which  will 
give  way  a  little  under  the  weight  of  a  bee.  Now, 
it  happens  that  the  stamens  and  pistils  are  so  stiff 
that,  as  the  boat  sinks,  they  come  up  from  the 
main  hatch  and  touch  the  under  side  of  the  bee. 
The  pistil,  being  the  longer,  comes  up  first  and 
gets  a  touch  of  pollen  if  any  has  been  brought 
from  afar;  the  stamens  then  follow  and  give  up 
their  store. 

Then  the  bee,  having  quenched  his  thirst,  flies 
away;   the  boat  rises  into   place   again,   and   the 


106    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

stamens  and  pistil  hide  in  the  hold  of  their  frail 
barque,  the  roof-petals  close,  and  all  is  as  before, 
save  that  the  act  of  cross-fertilisation  has  been  ac- 
complished. 

A  perfectly  similar  action  takes  place  in  each 
little  floret  of  the  clover.  Their  construction  is 
exactly  the  same;  only  they  are  so  much  smaller 
that  they  can  admit  but  the  head  of  the  bee.  The 
clover  florets  are  closely  packed  together,  and  hence 
have  all  the  advantages  of  mutual  association,  like 
the  daisies;  but  they  are  not  Composites,  and  run 
no  risk  of  self-fertilisation.  They  are,  in  fact,  abso- 
lutely dependent  upon  the  visits  of  bees,  as  the 
following  story  will  demonstrate: 

In  the  early  days  of  the  settlement  of  Australia, 
the  farmers  there  sent  to  England  for  clover-seed, 
which  they  planted  and  grew  with  success.  The 
first  crop  in  that  virgin  soil  produced  magnificent 
flower-heads,  but  no  seeds.  The  valuable  plant 
refused,  mysteriously,  to  propagate  itself.  What 
could  cause  it  to  be  thus  fickle  ?  The  answer  to  the 
puzzle  was  "no  bees."  In  the  absence  of  their  bee- 
affinity,  the  clover  refused  to  produce  its  kind;  so 
the  Australians  were  obliged  to  send  for  bees,  and 
to  acclimatize  them  there.  The  bees  and  the  clover 
resumed  their  usual  life  work,  and  lived  happily 
ever  after. 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  107 

Several  flowers  of  the  Bean  family,  by  the 
growth  and  elongation  of  their  stamens,  force  the 
pollen  forward  into  the  bow  of  the  little  boat-petal, 
where  it  remains  in  a  compressed  state  till  some- 
thing happens  to  release  it. 

GROUND-NUT — Apios  tuberosa 
August-Sept. 

A  floral  surprise  awaits  you  in  the  flower  of  the 
ground-nut,  a  native 
wild  flower,  whose 
beauty  passes  unap- 
preciated, probably 
because  its  handsome 
clusters  are  com- 
posed of  flowers  of 
such  deep  maroon 
and  delicate  lilac  as 
to  attract  little  at- 
tention, though  the 
bees  find  them 
through  their  rich 
fragrance.  The  sin- 
gle flower  has  a 
strange,  quaint  form, 
remotely  resembling 
that  of  the  pea  or  GROUND-NUT 


108    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

bean.  There  is  the  roof  or  hood,  and  there  are  the 
two  wings ;  but  in  this  case  the  wings  hang  down  to 
form  the  landing-platform,  as  in  the  drawing.  And 
there,  too,  is  the  boat,  but  curved  upward  like  a 
horn  whose  tip  reaches  into  the  tip  of  the  hood  and 
is  held  there,  gently  but  securely,  till  a  visitor  ar- 
rives. No  stamens  or  pistils  are  visible.  But  let 
a  bee  arrive  and  begin  his  rummaging  for  nectar. 
The  little  horn  is  displaced,  its  tip  escapes  and  splits 
apart,  the  enclosed  pistil  and  the  stamens  push  for- 
ward, and  out  comes  a  charge  of  pollen,  where  it 
will  reach  the  bee  and  dust  him  over. 

We  can  play  the  bee  and  set  the  mechanism  in 
motion  by  means  of  a  pin,  and  we  will  find  keen 
delight  in  watching  the  little  horns  of  plenty  in- 
variably discharge  their  golden  store.  When 
stamens  and  pistils  have  once  forced  their  way  out 
of  the  horn  they  do  not  return  again,  and  if  they 
are  visible  in  a  flower  we  know  they  have  already 
been  released  by  the  visit  of  a  bee. 

Several  of  the  Desmodiums  are  more  impetuous 
in  their  giving. 

TICK  TREFOIL — Desmodium  nudiflorum 
July-August 

This  and  the  Canadian  species  of  the  same  genus 
hold  their  pollen  so  tightly  compressed  in  their 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


109 


little  boat-petals  that  the  least  touch  will  send  it 
flying.    A  honey-bee  or  one  of  the  smaller  bees  who 
comes  to  get  nectar  is  welcomed  with  a  whole 
shower  of  pollen  as  soon  as  he 
alights.   But  the  bees  do  not  seem 
to  mind  these  wanton  pranks  that 
we    would    consider   very    inhos- 
pitable,   for   they  keep   on   their 
round    of    visits,    carrying    some 
pollen,  and  receiving  more.    Sim- 
ilar  frivolous    welcomes    are   of- 
fered by  the  Genista  tinctoria,  or 
whin. 

But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  Bean 
family  that  we  find  flowers  shoot- 
ing off  their  pollen.  Some  of  the 
Heath  family  have  learned  simi- 
lar tricks  worthy  of  April  First. 

MALE    BERRY — Andromeda   ligustrina 

(called  by  some  botanists  Lyonia) 

June-July 

This    is    a    shrub    growing    in 
moist  thickets  which  lives  like  a 
clown    by    its    jokes.      Let    Mr.          TICK  TREFOIL 
Gibson  describe  its  conduct.* 

*  From  Blossom  Hosts  and  Insect  Guests,  William  Hamilton  Gib- 


110    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

"I  recently  observed  its  singular  reception  to  the 
tiny  black-and-white-banded  bee,  which  seems  Jo  be 
its  special  companion,  none  the  less  constant  and 
forgiving  in  spite  of  a  hospitality  which,  from  the 
human  standpoint,  would  certainly  seem  rather  dis- 
couraging. Fancy  a  morning  call  upon  your  par- 
ticular friend.  You  knock  at  the  door  and  are  im- 
mediately greeted  at  the  threshold  with  a  quart  of 
sulphur  thrown  in  your  face.  Yet  this  is  precisely 


ANDROMEDA 

the  experience  of  this  patient  little  insect,  which 
manifests  no  disposition  to  retaliate  with  the  con- 
cealed weapon  which  on  much  less  provocation  he 
is  quick  to  employ.  He  alights  upon  one  of  the 
tiny  bells,  scarce  half  the  size  of  his  body.  Creep- 
ing down  beneath  it,  he  inserts  his  tongue  into  the 
narrow  opening.  Instantly  a  copious  shower  of 
dust  is  poured  down  upon  his  face  and  body.  But 
he  has  been  used  to  it  all  his  life,  and  by  heredity 
he  knows  that  this  is  Andromeda's  peculiar  whim, 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  111 

and  has  to  humour  it  for  the  sweet  recompense 
which  she  bestows. 

"This  species  of  the  Andromeda  is  a  shrub  of 
about  four  feet  in  height,  its  Wossoms  being  borne  in 
close  panicled  clusters  at  the  summit  of  the  branches. 
The  individual  flower  is  hardly  more  than  an  eighth 
of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  first  sketch  (page 
110)  shows  the  remarkable  interior  arrangement 
of  the  ten  stamens  surrounding  the  pistil.  The 
second  presents  a  sectional  view  of  these  stamens, 
showing  their  peculiar  S -shaped  filaments,  and 
ring  of  anthers,  one  of  these  latter  being  shown 
separate  at  the  left,  with  its  two  pores  and  ex- 
posed pollen.  The  freshly  opened  blossom  dis- 
closes the  entire  ring  of  anthers  in  perfect  equi- 
librium, each  with  its  two  orifices  closed  by  close 
contact  with  the  style,  thus  retaining  the  pollen. 
It  will  readily  be  seen  that  an  insect's  tongue,  as 
indicated  in  the  drawing,  in  probing  between  them 
in  search  of  nectar  must  needs  dislocate  one  or  more 
of  the  anthers  and  thus  release  their  dusty  contents, 
while  the  position  of  the  stigma  below  is  such  as  to 
escape  all  contact." 

This  saving  up  of  the  pollen  and  then  throwing 
it  forcibly  at  the  right  moment  seems  a  family  trait 
of  the  Heath  family,  seen  to  better  advantage  in 
the  lovely  flowers  of  the  mountain  laurel. 


112    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


MOUNTAIN  LAUREL — Kalmia  latifolia 
May-June 

It  was  once  supposed  that  the  "beauty  of  the 
flowers  was  their  sole  excuse  for  being,"  and  cer- 
tainly the  laurel  has  this  excuse  in  full  measure, 
for  without  doubt  it  is  one  of  America's  loveliest 
of  native  flowers.  But  we  know  too  much  about 
the  ways  of  the  flowers  to  suppose  that  the  beauty 
of  this  one  alone  has  helped  it  to  survive  long  ages 
of  competition,  and  when  it  blooms  we  straightway 
pry  into  its  waxen  chalice,  and  seek  to  discover  the 
secret  of  its  fair  victory. 

Like  the  rhododendron  and  the  Andromeda,  its 
anthers  are  twin  meal-bags  full  of  pollen,  mounted 
upon  long,  spring-like  filaments  forming  veritable 
catapults.  Each  corolla  is 
provided  with  a  ring  of 
twelve  small  pockets,  which 
gently  hold  the  anthers  and 
keep  the  filaments  curved 
back  in  a  state  of  tension, 
all  round  the  central  pistil. 
Thus  the  flower  blooms, 
and  thus  it  will  remain  un- 
less some  evening  a  night- 
moth,  attracted  by  the  white 
MOUNTAIN  LAUREL  blossoms  and  by  their  fra- 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  113 

grance,  arrives  and  reaching  down  for  nectar  dis- 
turbs the  arrangement  of  the  stamens.  A  little 
touch  will  derange  the  equilibrium  and  one  or  sev- 
eral anthers  will  be  released  from  their  pockets ; 
they  will  fly  up  with  a  quick  snap,  and  their  pollen 
will  be  thrown  up  forcibly  against  the  moth's  body 
and  cling  to  his  woolly  covering.  And  it  should 
be  noticed  that  if  the  moth  brings  pollen  from 
another  flower  he  is  likely  to  leave  some  on  the 
prominent  stigma,  while  his  body,  at  the  moment 
of  the  explosion,  acts  as  a  bulwark  to  protect  the 
pistil  from  the  discharge  of  the  numerous  little 
catapults  he  has  set  in  action.  No  more  perfect 
mechanism  could  be  devised,  but  the  wonder  of  it 
is  that  it  can  exist  in  such  frail  and  diaphanous 
material,  and  that  it  can  come  into  existence  within 
a  bud,  its  complex  parts  first  folded  and  dis- 
torted, but  sure  to  unfold,  adjust  themselves 
with  precision,  and  work  unerringly  at  the  slightest 
touch. 

With  the  mountain  laurel  blossoms  we  can  play 
the  moth.  Making  believe  that  a  pin  is  our 
proboscis,  we  can  loosen  the  anthers  from  their 
places  in  the  little  pockets  and  discharge  a  whole 
broadside  of  these  weapons  and  see  a  cloud  of  flying 
projectiles. 

Should  we  catch  some  of  the  pollen  and  ex- 


114    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


amine  it  under  the  microscope  we  would  find  that 
it  is  an  ammunition  forbidden  by  the  rules  of  mod- 
ern warfare,  for  its  grains  are  more  or  less  con- 
nected by  delicate  filaments,  like  the  chain-shot  of 
olden  times ;  but  this  arrangement  makes  the  grains 
more  likely  to  adhere  to  the  body  or  entangle  the 
legs  of  the  friendly  foe. 

There  are  doubtless  other  flowers,  yet  to  be  dis- 
covered, which  throw  out  their  pollen  in  an  explo- 
sive manner. 

A  less  impetuous  flower  is  the  barberry. 

BARBERRY — Berberis  vulgaris 
May-June 

Each  little  yellow  flower  resembles  the  moun- 
tain laurel  in  the  situa- 
tion of  pistil  and  sta- 
mens; but  these  latter 
are  not  caught  back 
and  held  in  little  pock- 
ets, and  when  in  action 
they  do  not  violently 
throw  their  pollen. 
They  are  not  cata- 
pults, acting  with  a 
spring,  but,  more  re- 
BARBERRY  markablc  still,  they  are 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  115 

endowed  with  life  and  voluntary  motion,  and 
are  able  to  feel  and  to  move,  just  as  the  leaflets 
of  a  sensitive  plant  feel  and  move.  Make  the  ex- 
periment upon  a  blossom  of  touching  the  centre 
with  a  pin,  and  you  will  immediately  see  the  stamens 
shrink  and  close  toward  the  pistil,  exactly  as  a  sea- 
anemone  closes  its  little  tentacles  at  the  slightest 
touch. 

The  purpose  of  this  wonderful  mechanism  is  very 
easy  to  understand.  Our  front  view  of  the  flower 
shows  the  blossom  as  the  bee  finds  it,  with  the  six 
little  stamens  wide  apart  against  the  petals,  their 
small  pollen-chambers  open  and  ready  to  give  up 
their  contents.  The  first  sectional  view  likewise 
shows  them  in  the  same  position.  Xow,  suppose 
a  bee  lands  on  the  flower,  and,  holding  himself  in 
an  inverted  position,  thrusts  his  long  beak  and 
tongue  into  it  and  probes  the  nectar  glands  in  the 
centre.  He  is  sure  to  touch  some  of  the  sensitive 
stamens,  which  immediately  respond,  curving  for- 
ward and  clasping  around  the  intruding  proboscis 
and  dusting  it  with  a  charge  of  pollen. 

Let  the  bee  carry  some  of  this  to  the  next  blos- 
som. He  will  be  sure  to  brush  some  pollen  against 
the  large  stigma  before  the  stamens  have  had  time 
to  move  up  and  clasp  him  as  before.  Thus  the  bee 
will  move  rapidly,  fetching  and  carrying  pollen 


116    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

from  flower  to  flower,  till  all  have  been  satisfied  and 
the  little  ovules  are  vivified  and  started  on  their 
way  to  become  bright  and  attractive  red  berries  in 
the  coming  autumn. 

POINSETTIA — Euphorbia  pulcherrima 

This  flower,  blooming  in  greenhouses  about 
Christmas-tide  and  embellishing  with  its  scarlet 
leaves  many  a  holiday  feast, 
reveals  a  fantastic  trick  with 
its  stamens,  rivalling  the  antics 
of  the  clowns  in  the  Christmas 
pantomime.  A  glance  at  the 
poinsettia  will  show  that  the 
scarlet  leaves  are  not  petals, 
and  that  the  flowers  are  not 
huge  and  showy  and  solitary, 
but  small,  inconspicuous  and 
clustered  into  an  umbel  at  the 
centre  of  the  showy  rosette  of 
leaves.  And  another  oddity 
will  be  observed:  namely,  that 
there  is  at  the  side  of  each 
POINSETTIA  flower  a  huge  nectary  which 

resembles  a  little  yellow  drinking-fountain  full  of 
some  adhesive  nectar.  The  stamens  grow  thickly 
upon  the  flower,  their  filaments  being  exceedingly 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


117 


brittle.  When  an  insect  arrives  to  drink  he  is  sure 
to  disturb  them,  and  they  break  away  and  jump  off 
bodily,  as  if  fleeing  from  some  pest.  They  jump, 
they  skip,  they  turn  somersaults  in  the  air,  and  some 
of  them  fall  into  the  nectary  or  upon  its  adhesive 
borders,  whence  they  are  carried  to  pistils  of  other 
flowers  by  adhering  to  insects 
such  as  flies,  beetles  and  Hy- 
menoptera,  who  come  to  drink. 
It  is  no  uncommon  trick 
among  flowers  for  the  entire 
stamens  to  come  away.  This 
occurs  most  interestingly  in  the 
jewel- weed. 

JEWEL-WEED;   TOUCH-ME-NOT 
•Impatiens    biflora 

July-Sept. 


JEWEL- WEED 


In  moist  and  shady  places 
this  plant  grows  in  great  abun- 
dance, bearing  profusely  its  showy  orange-yellow 
blossoms,  shaped  like  Oriental  slippers  without 
heels  but  with  pointed  toes  curved  upward  into 
hooks.  For  some  time  I  supposed  that  I  had 
discovered  staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  on 
this  plant;  but  closer  observation  showed  that  the 
stamens  grew  directly  upon  the  pistil,  and  pro- 


118    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

tected  the  flower  completely  from  its  own  pollen. 
The  stamens  form  an  odd  group,  much  resembling 
a  molar  tooth  with  five  prongs,  and  these  prongs 
grasp  the  pistil  and  hold  fast  till  all  the  pollen  is 
shed.  Then  the  whole  "tooth"  loosens  and  comes 
away  and  the  exposed  stigma  perfects.  The  jewel- 
weed  is  visited  by  bees,  and  also  by  humming- 
birds. 

This  curious  shedding  of  the  stamens  I  have 
found  to  occur  also  in  another  Impatiens  flower, 
which  is  sold  by  the  nurserymen  as  a  winter  house- 
plant.  The  flowers  are  bright  pink  in  colour,  and 
bear  five  rounded  petals,  opening  flat  and  wide; 
hence  they  do  not  resemble,  either  in  form  or  colour, 
their  native  sister,  the  jewel-weed,  but  their  stamens 
have  exactly  the  form  and  habits  of  those  of  the 
latter  flower. 

INSECT    PRISONS 

It  is  not  quite  accurate  to  speak  of  friendly  rela- 
tions as  existing  between  flowers  and  insects.  As 
a  rule,  the  flower  makes  use  of  the  insect  with  lofty 
superiority,  as  man  makes  use  of  a  beast  of  burden, 
feeding  him  and  bullying  him  to  do  its  will.  Some- 
times the  flower  entraps  its  unsuspecting  visitor 
and  holds  him  an  unwilling  prisoner.  We  have  seen 
how  this  happens  in  the  case  of  the  English  Lords 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  119 

and  Ladies.     In  America  we  find  the  same  thing 
recurring  in  the  Dutchman's  pipe. 

DUTCHMAN'S  PIPE — Aristolochia  Sipho  or  Macrophylla 
May-June 

The  extraordinary  shape  of  the  flower  is  per- 
fectly understood  from  its  name.  The  front  of 
the  "bowl"  is  brown,  flat,  and  three-lobed.  In  the 
centre  of  this  is  a  small  opening  giving  entrance 


DUTCHMAN'S  PIPE 


to  a  chamber  which  curves  downward  and  then  up- 
ward. The  stamens  and  the  pistil  are  at  the  further, 
upturned  end.  The  pistil  is  the  first  to  perfect, 
and  thus  receives  pollen  brought  from  another 
flower  by  early  small  insects  such  as  gnats  and  flies. 
These,  however,  are  not  able  to  crawl  or  fly  out 
the  way  they  came,  and  are  held  prisoners  till  in 
due  time  the  anthers  shed  their  pollen.  Then  the 
tube  of  the  flower  withers  and  hangs  limply  down- 


120    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


ward,  permitting  the  insects  to  go  their  way. 
Though  the  vines  grow  luxuriantly  about  my 
home,  bearing  numerous  flowers,  I  have  failed  to 
find  any  of  them  bearing  seed-pods,  from  which  I 
conclude  that  the  Aristolochia  is  absolutely  depend- 
ent upon  insects,  and  that 
its  favourite  guests  in 
the  insect  world  are  not 
to  be  found  in  these 
parts,  though  we  have 
plenty  of  other  and  less 
useful  sorts.  Possibly, 
however,  the  cause  may 
be  that  too  few  vines 
grow  in  this  vicinity 
to  furnish  the  requisite 
crossing  of  pollen  with 
distant  flowers,  as  was 
noted  in  the  case  of  the 
sterility  of  the  trumpet- 
creepers  growing  here- 
about. 

MILKWEED — Asclepias  syriaca 
July- August 

The  most  complicated 
MILKWEED  mechanism     among    our 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS 


121 


flowers,  with  the  exception  of  the  orchids,  is  that 
of  the  common  milkweed.  It  seems  strange  that 
this  rank  herb  should  resort  to  such  elaborate  means 
to  procure  cross-fertilisation,  and  remarkable  also 
that  no  similar  mechanism  has  been  evolved  by  other 
plants.  The  milkweed  shows  inventive  genius.  Its 
flowers  are  very  small  and  clus- 
tered in  a  loose  bunch,  of  delicate 
lilac  or  lavender-brown  colour, 
and  emit  a  heavy,  cloying  fra- 
grance. We  see  them  in  the  op- 
posite drawing  as  they  droop  in 
a  loose  bunch  of  some  twenty 
florets.  Around  and  upon  them 
various  insect  visitors  are  always 
to  be  found,  and  we  usually  see 
the  flowers  tossing  and  swaying 
under  their  eager  thrusts.  We 
see  the  insects  cling  and  swing  by  their  hind  legs 
clasped  against  the  neck  of  the  flower,  as  in  the 
sketch,  and  sometimes  a  leg  caught  as  in  a  trap, 
while  the  whole  cluster  quivers  as  the  insect  fran- 
tically strives  for  freedom. 

Let  us  pluck  a  single  floret,  like  the  topmost 
sketch,  and  examine  it. 

We  see  the  calyx  bent  back,  and  the  narrow  neck 
to  which  the  insects  cling,  and  five  nectar-horns, 


BEE  ON  MILK- 
WEED 


122    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

true  horns  of  plenty,  in  which  they 
eagerly  drink.  But  the  stamens 
are  not  easy  to  find  even  with  a 
microscope,  and  are  revealed  only 
by  dissection.  Having  thus  sepa- 
rated the  parts,  I  can  best  explain 
their  complex  arrangement  by 
building  them  up  again. 

Upon  the  calyx  grow  two  pis- 
tils, but  these  are  embedded  in  a 
fleshy  column  and  their  stigmas 
can  be  reached  by  the  pollen  only 
through  five  small  holes. 

A  single  stamen  is  shown  in  the 
adjoining  sketch.  It  has  a  very 
short  filament,  two  anthers,  and 
two  wing-like  appendages.  Five 
of  these  stamens  cluster  round  the 
column  and  shed  their  pollen  in- 
ward against  it,  the  wings  of  one 
stamen  meeting  the  wings  of  sta- 
mens on  either  side  to  form  a  little 
tent  or  pocket  which  we  will  call 
the  pollen-chamber. 

Now  the  pollen  in  the  milkweed 
is  not  the  usual  fine,  mealy  sub- 
MILKWEED  stance,  but  a  mass  like  a  croquette, 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  123 

shaped  like  a  mutton-chop,  and  so 
minute  that  it  can  scarcely  be  dis- 
covered without  a  magnifying 
glass.  One  chop  grows  in  each 
anther,  and  is  connected  with  an- 
other chop  by  what  seems  to  be  a 
little  steel  bow,  bearing  in  its  cen- 
tre a  minute  spring  catch,  destined 
to  make  itself  fast  to  the  leg  of  an 
unwary  bee  or  butterfly. 

The  pollen  masses  lie  on  either 
side  of  the  stigmatic  orifice,  but 
hidden  from  view  by  the  anthers 
— all  save  their  little  spring  catch, 
which  is  visible  in  the  first  sketch 
as  a  bright  black  dot  at  the  bot- 
tom of  the  pocket-slit  of  pollen- 
chamber. 

Now,  the  principal  organs  of 
the  flower  are  in  place,  yet  it  needs 
the  nectar-horns  to  offer  their  at- 
tractions of  sweets  and  perfumes 
for  the  insects.  There  are  five  of 
these  horns  springing  from  below 
the  calyx  and  curving  downward 
and  under  the  lower  end  of  the 
column,  the  spaces  between  them  MILKWEED 


124  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

disclosing  the  slits  in  the  pollen-chamber,  and  the 
little  spring  catches,  but  hiding  the  anthers  from 
view.  We  give  one  sketch  showing  a  view  of  the 
floret  from  below,  and  another  showing  a  horizon- 
tal section,  cutting  pollen-chambers,  column,  and 
ovary. 

Now  that  we  know  the  construction  of  the  flower, 
we  will  next  find  out  the  purposes  of  all  these 
elaborate  arrangements.  Let  us  go  forth  early 
some  summer  morning  to  our  milkweed  plant  and 
watch  its  complex  machinery  in  operation. 

The  bees  and  butterflies  are  there  before  us,  bend- 
ing down  the  flowers  with  their  weight.  They  clasp 
the  neck  of  the  column  with  their  hind  legs  and 
thus,  hanging  head  downward,  they  curve  their 
bodies  and  reach  upward  into  the  nectar  horns  for 
food;  then,  on  leaving,  they  loosen  their  hold,  and 
their  hind  legs  slip  down  into  the  little  pockets  of 
the  pollen-chambers,  where  they  are  caught  and 
held  more  or  less  firmly.  Here  is  a  predicament. 
The  insects  struggle  and  pull  till  their  hind  legs  slip 
farther  and  farther  down  the  slit,  and  at  last  come 
out,  bringing  a  pair  of  pollen-chops  snapped  fast 
by -the  spring-catch,  as  shown  in  the  lower  sketch. 
But  as  soon  as  the  pollen  masses  are  withdrawn  their 
little  connecting  bow  dries  and  curls  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  fold  them,  one  upon  another,  and  thus 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  125 

they  can  easily  enter  the  slit  of  a  pollen-chamber  on 
another  flower. 

The  insects  seem  to  learn  nothing  from  their  un- 
pleasant entanglements,  for  they  fly  to  a  new  flower 
and  repeat  their  exploits — with  this  difference,  how- 
ever :  When  their  hind  legs  enter  the  slotted  open- 
ing, they  drag  the  pollen  masses  into  the  pollen- 
chamber  and  leave  them  there  at  the  stigmatic  open- 
ing, where  they  will  give  life  to  the  ovaries  within. 

Truth  compels  me  to  state  that  the  action  de- 
scribed does  not  occur  for  every  visit,  nor  yet  once 
in  very  many  visits.  On  a  flower-head  I  examined 
there  were  forty  blossoms,  and  each  one  received 
the  visits  of  at  least  twenty  insects,  making  eight 
hundred  chances  for  fertilisation  to  take  place; 
yet  this  plant  made  but  two  seed-pods.  But  none 
can  deny  that  the  mechanism  works  sufficiently 
well  to  propagate  the  milkweed  plentifully  and 
lustily. 

Fritz  Miiller  gives  a  sketch  of  a  butterfly's  legs 
laden  with  no  less  than  eleven  bunches  of  pollen, 
or  spring  clips,  and  Mr.  Wood,  the  botanist,  re- 
ceived from  a  bee-grower  of  California  a  box  of 
bees  whose  legs  were  so  clustered  with  milkweed 
pollen  that  they  could  not  do  their  work,  and  were 
supposed  to  be  the  victims  of  some  disease,  or  to 
bear  some  strange  fungous  growth. 


126    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

In  watching  the  insects  at  work  on  the  milkweed, 
it  is  quite  exciting  to  see  their  struggles  for  free- 
dom, and  to  speculate  whether  they  will  shake  them- 
selves loose,  or  remain  entrapped  to  die  of  starva- 
tion. 

All  the  members  of  the  Milkweed  family  possess 
the  mechanism  described,  including  the  gorgeous 
butterfly-weed,  shown  in  our  coloured  plate. 

SPREADING   DOGBANE — Apocynum   androscemifolium 
June-July 

This  flower  sometimes  entraps  and  holds  its  eager 
guests.  The  dogbane  is  a  low  shrub  bearing  pink- 
ish white  blossoms  resembling  the  bells  of  the  lily- 
of-the-valley.  Its  stigma  is  two-lobed,  with  a  notch 
between,  and  in  this  notch  the  tongue  of  the  insect 
is  sometimes  held  fast.  The  flower  exudes  a  sticky 
substance  by  which  it  cements  its  pollen  to  the 
tongues  of  bees  and  butterflies. 

There  is  a  beautiful  beetle  which  is  usually  to 
be  found  on  this  flower — the  dogbane  beetle,  or 

Chrysocus  auratus,  as 
brilliant  as  a  jewel  in 
his  armour  of  bur- 
nished green.  His 
faithful  attendance 
DOG  BANE  suggests  that  he  may 


•iff 


THE  BUTTERFLY  WEED 


FLORAL  MECHANISMS  127 

do  the  work  of  carrying  pollen  for  his  flower 
favourite,  but  no  naturalist  has  yet  shown  this  to 
be  the  case.  Here  is  a  clue  for  the  reader  to  follow, 
and  a  chance  for  original  observation  and  discovery. 


CHAPTER  V 

ORCHIDS 

IF  the  reader  so  loves  the  wild  flowers 
that  he  has  accompanied  us  thus  far, 
and  has  patience  to  push  on  with  us 
along  the  streams,  over  the  hills,  and 
through  the  woods,  sooner  or  later  we 
will  come  upon  a  treasure  new  and  rare,  a 
tall  and  stately  flower,  aloof  and  haughty, 
and  we  will  instinctively  know  that  we  are 
in  the  presence  of  the  flower  of  flowers,  the 
Orchid. 

We  will  not  gather  it,  for  we  are  not  loot- 
ing the  forest  of  its  richest  treasures;  but 
we  will  enjoy  it  and  study  it  where  it  grows, 
and  perhaps  we  will  bring  one  or  two  friends 
who  will  do  homage  also. 

But  before  we  examine  our  prize  as  to  its 
construction  and  habits,  its  peculiarities,  and 

128 


ORCHIDS  129 

its  insect  friends,  let  us  establish  clearly  in  our 
minds  what  is  an  orchid. 

Reviewing  hastily  what  we  have  learned  of  plant 
development,  we  recall  that  those  plants  which  were 
the  first  to  produce  flowers  far  back  in  prehistoric 
times  were  either  pollen-bearing  or  seed-bearing 
plants:  that  is  to  say,  dioecious.  Later,  plants  and 
trees  put  forth  staminate  and  pistillate  flowers, 
side  by  side,  and  hence  were  monoecious.  At  length, 
stamens  and  pistils  approached  one  another  and 
were  found  within  the  corolla  of  perfect  flowers. 
Only  one  more  move  in  the  same  direction  was 
possible:  namely,  that  the  stamens  and  pistils 
should  actually  unite  and  form  a  single  structure, 
while  retaining  their  separate  functions.  And  this 
is  exactly  what  happened  in  the  orchid.  Here, 
stamens  and  pistils  are  united  into  a  body  called 
the  "column."  They  are  welded  together,  as  it 
were,  and  have  lost  all  resemblance  to  the  leaves  or 
petals  from  which  some  suppose  they  originally 
sprang.  So  complete  has  been  the  union  that  often 
the  two  organs  are  difficult  to  identify,  the  stamens 
being  transformed  into  mere  pockets  with  slits,  or 
boxes  with  lids,  and  the  stigmas  merely  adhesive 
spots  upon  the  column. 

We  can  see  in  these  progressive  stages  the  steps 
of  evolution  leading  to  the  highest  type  of  flowers, 


130  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

beyond  which  no  progress  is  further  possible.  The 
union  of  stamens  and  pistils  into  the  column  is, 
then,  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  orchid ;  but,  in 
addition  to  this,  we  know  that  all  orchids  have  leaves 
with  parallel  veins,  and  their  flowers  are  so  organ- 
ised as  to  depend,  with  rare  exceptions,  exclusively 
upon  insects  for  their  fertilisation,  and,  in  some 
cases,  upon  one  insect  affinity  in  particular. 

The  pollen  of  the  orchid  also  is  different  from 
that  of  most  other  plants.  It  is  seldom  the  dry 
and  powdery  substance  we  are  familiar  with,  but 
is  usually  waxy  and  is  often  made  up  into  club- 
shaped  masses,  or  into  globules  bound  together  with 
minute  threads. 

Now,  many  people  suppose  that  the  orchids  are 
necessarily  "air  plants"  and  that  they  are  very 
tender  and  costly  flowers  from  the  tropics.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  these  ideas,  true  to  a  certain  extent, 
were  propagated  in  close  and  humid  hothouses 
along  with  the  gaudy  exotic  orchids  flourishing 
there. 

It  is  true  that  the  tropical  conditions  favour  and 
breed  a  very  large  number  of  orchids,  many  of 
which  are,  indeed,  air-plants;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  are  orchids  adapted  to  every  clime  and 
condition,  latitude  and  altitude,  making  them  the 
most  widely  distributed  family  in  the  floral  king- 


NATIVE  ORCHIDS 


ORCHIDS  131 

dom.  They  can  find  sustenance  in  every  kind  of 
soil,  or  in  no  soil  at  all,  and  we  see,  therefore,  that 
they  possess  an  adaptability  truly  marvellous. 

Now,  we  know  that  adaptability  comes  through 
variation,  and  variation  is  brought  about  by  cross- 
fertilisation.  So  we  see  that  the  wide  and  varied 
distribution  of  the  orchids  is  a  direct  result  of  their 
peculiar  and  determined  efforts  to  have  cross- 
fertilisation,  and  to  be  satisfied  with  nothing  else. 

It  is  their  creed,  their  banner  under  which  they 
have  conquered  their  "place  in  the  sun" — "In  hoc 
signo  vinces,"  might  be  their  motto.  And  through- 
out our  vast  country,  from  Greenland  to  Mexico, 
from  flat  Cape  Cod  to  lofty  Mount  Shasta,  we  find 
their  tiny  banners  fluttering,  to  announce  their  vic- 
tory in  the  struggle  for  existence. 

But  not  very  many  of  them  are  ours.  Of  the 
seven  thousand  species  known  to  the  botanists,  only 
sixty-eight  grow  in  the  United  States  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  many  of  these  are  so  rare, 
so  quaint  in  form  and  colour,  so  like  exquisite  works 
of  art,  that  we  think  of  them  as  Nature's  master- 
pieces of  handicraft,  her  most  recondite  form  of 
flower  designs,  her  bibelots.  And  as  bibelots  they 
are  sought  after  and  collected  and  prized  with  fren- 
zied enthusiasm.  Hunters  for  orchids  travel  thou- 
sands of  miles,  undergo  every  hardship,  often  risk- 


132    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

ing  their  lives,  in  order  to  gather  orchid  treasures 
from  the  dark  green  grottoes  of  tropic  forests.  Col- 
lectors purchase  the  bulbs  at  many  times  their 
weight  in  gold.  Business  men,  soldiers,  statesmen, 
give  themselves  to  the  cult  of  the  orchid,  and  we 
are  reminded  of  the  tulip  craze  of  long  ago. 

We  too  shall  feel  some  of  the  same  thrill  hunt- 
ing our  native  orchids,  striving  to  discover  speci- 
mens of  all  the  species,  and  learning  the  habits 
of  each,  and  the  insect  guest  which  forms  its 
alter  ego. 

And  since  the  orchid  is  as  it  is,  a  lovely  creation 
formed,  constructed  and  tinted  with  the  one  pur- 
pose to  attract  its  affinity,  and  thus  to  perpetuate 
its  aristocratic  lineage,  this  flower,  more  than  all 
others,  must  be  studied  in  reference  to  its  schemes 
and  mechanisms,  its  allurements  and  subterfuges 
by  which  its  hopes  and  ambitions  are  consummated. 

Among  our  native  orchids  we  discover  three  dis- 
tinct schemes  or  mechanisms  for  accomplishing 
cross-fertilisation. 

In  the  first,  the  insect  enters  by  one  opening, 
passes  under  stigma  and  anthers  and  departs  by 
another  opening.  This  is  seen  in  the  lady's  slippers, 
or  Cypripediums. 

In  the  second,  the  pollen  masses  fasten  themselves 
upon  the  head  or  the  tongue  of  the  insect  visitor, 


ORCHIDS 


133 


as  in  the  fringed  orchids,  or  Habenaria,  and  others. 
In  the  third,  the  pollen  is  formed  and  held  in 
a  box,  which  opens  and  dusts  the  insect  as  he 
withdraws  from  the  flower,  as  exemplified  in  the 
pogonias. 

PINK  LADY'S  SLIPPER;  MOCCASIN  FLOWER — Cypripedium 
acaule  {May-June} 

This  flower  seems  to  like  the  company  of  the  wild 
pink  azalea,  and  may,  perhaps,  win  some  of  the 
calls    from    insect 
guests  visiting  the 
latter  flowers. 

The    gay    pink 
pouch  of  the  lady's 
slipper  is  an  easy 
mark  for  the  bum- 
blebee, serves  him 
well    for    a   land- 
ing-stage, and  soon  becomes  his  trap  and  prison. 
For  the  pouch  has  a  slit  opening  down  the  middle, 
whose  edges  turn  inward,  and  the  bee  quickly  finds 
his  way  in,  but  cannot  retreat  by  the  same  door. 

Though  I  have  often  watched  many  thick  patches 
of  the  flower,  I  have  never  seen  the  bee  alight  upon 
one  of  them.  I  have,  however,  captured  a  bee  (with 
gloves,  be  it  understood)  and  placing  him  on  a 


PINK  LADY'S  SLIPPER 


134    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

flower,  have  been  surprised  by  the  prompt  and  busi- 
nesslike way  in  which  he  plunged  into  the  opening, 
as  if  he  made  the  flower  his  special  home.  Then  it 
was  amusing  to  see  what  struggles  he  made  and 
what  antics  he  performed  in  order  to  get  free.  He 
would  swing  the  flower  from  side  to  side,  and  bulge 
the  pouch  here  and  there,  almost  tearing  it  to 
shreds.  Then,  at  length  he  would  calm  down,  ap- 
parently think  over  the  situation,  and  seem  to  spy 
the  daylight  in  a  narrow  flue  above  his  head  and 
decide  that  by  that  road  lay  his  path  to  liberty. 

But  our  section  of  the  lady's  slipper  will  show 
that  the  passageway  is  partly  barred  by  two  im- 
pediments. The  column  bends  forward  and  down- 
ward in  such  a  way  as  to  place  the  stigmatic  surface 
in  the  narrow  opening;  and,  higher  up,  two  pollen 
masses  grow  just  where  they  will  nearly  close  the 
narrow  exit. 

Our  bee,  then,  if  he  has  any  pollen  on  his  back 
must  rub  it  upon  the  stigma,  and  in  any  case  he 
must  take  some  from  one  anther  as  he  squeezes  his 
body  painfully  out  through  the  opening  above.  In 
spite  of  the  discomfort  the  bee  has  evidently  experi- 
enced he  repeats  it  in  visits  to  other  flowers,  as  we 
know  from  the  number  of  seed-pods  that  later  in  the 
season  we  find  on  a  patch  of  these  plants ;  and  seeds 
can  be  created  in  no  other  way,  for  the  Cypripediu  m 


ORCHIDS  135 

cannot  possibly  be  self -fertilised,  and  no  insect  can 
enter  save  by  the  slit  in  the  pouch.  The  upper 
openings  are  defended  by  the  column,  and  a  shield- 
like  prolongation  of  it — a  modified  and  sterile  an- 
ther, lying  like  a  shield  or  valve  over  the  upper 
part  of  the  pouch,  as  seen  in  the  sketches. 

Notice  that  the  strongest  colour  and  most  pro- 
nounced guide  lines  occur  at  the  entrance  of  the 
pouch,  while  the  harmonious  and  subdued  colours 
are  reserved  for  the  graceful  petals  which  droop 
and  float  and  twist  above  and  around  like  a  quaint 
head-dress. 

The  pollen  of  the  Cypripcdiurn  is  a  pulpy  mass, 
which  adheres  like  a  plaster  to  the  back  of  the  bee ; 
the  stigma  bears  teeth  like  a  comb,  to  scrape  off 
what  it  can  of  the  pollen  which  a  bee  may  have 
brought  from  another  flower. 

All  the  other  Cypripediums  have  their  pouches 
more  inflated  and  exhibit  a  circular  opening  with 
incurved  edges  in  place  of  the  long,  concealed  slit 
of  the  acaule. 

SHOWY  LADY'S  SLIPPER — Cypripedium  hirsutum 
June-July 

This  is  the  most  stately  and  gorgeous  of  them 
all.  Standing  three  feet  high,  with  two,  three,  or 
four  blossoms  on  a  stem,  it  bears  floating  streamers 


136    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

of  pure  white  and  thrusts  forward  a  white  pouch 
gaily  streaked  and  barred  with  red.  This  noble 
plant  seems  to  require  a  root-hold  in  a  sphagnum 
swamp,  and  there  it  makes  rank  growth  and  splen- 
did blooms  by  the  hundreds.  All  the  Cypripedi- 
ums  have  the  same  general  construction  and  exact 
from  their  insect  guests,  in  return  for  their  hos- 
pitality, the  same  difficult  ceremonies  already  de- 
scribed. 

RAM'S-HEAD   LADY'S  SLIPPER — Cypripedium   arietinum 
May- A  ugust 

We  must  mention  this,  the  rarest  of  them  all, 
to  be  found  in  cold,  damp  woods  from  Quebec  to 
Ontario  and  southward  to  New  York  and  Minne- 
sota. It  receives  its  name  from  a  curious  resem- 
blance it  bears  to  a  ram's  head,  when  seen  from  a 
certain  position. 

SMALL  WHITE  LADY'S  SLIPPER — Cypripedium  candidum 
May-June 

The  petals  and  sepals  of  this  species  are  greenish, 
spotted  with  madder-purple,  as  also  is  the  pouch. 
Though  its  colour  resembles  that  of  the  showy 
lady's  slipper,  it  can  always  be  distinguished  from 
the  latter  by  its  modest  height,  never  more  than  one 
foot,  its  solitary  blossom,  and  its  two  winged  petals, 


ORCHIDS  137 

one  on  either  side,  wavy  and  twisted.  It  grows  in 
bogs  and  meadows  from  New  Jersey  to  Minnesota, 
Kentucky,  and  Missouri. 

LARGE    YELLOW    LADY'S    SLIPPER — Cypripedium    parviflorum 

SMALLER  YELLOW  LADY'S  SLIPPER — Cypripedium  parviflorum, 

var.   pubescens     (May-July) 

Two  varieties  of  the  same  species,  closely  resem- 
bling each  other,  and  found  widely  distributed 
throughout  our  range.  Between  the  Cypripedium 
and  other  orchids  we  find  no  transitional  forms; 
hence  Darwin  has  been  led  to  suppose  that  some 
sweeping  cataclysm  has  destroyed  the  connecting 
links. 

SHOWY  ORCHID — Orchis  spectabilis 
April-June 

The  next  scheme  of  cross-fertilisation  is  found 
in  this  orchid,  which  is  the  first  of  the  family  to 
bloom  in  our  northern  regions.  It  seems  like  a 
little  model  of  a  larger  plant,  made  in  fragile  por- 
celain or  bisque,  so  firm  and  crisp  it  rises  from  the 
ground  of  rich,  moist  woods.  Two  leaves  first  ap- 
pear; then  between  them  a  spike  from  five  to  ten 
inches  tall  with  a  few  flowers  accompanied  by 
pointed  bracts.  The  flower — there  are  five  or  six 
on  a  stem — has  a  purple  hood  or  cowl,  overhanging 
a  white  bib,  or  lip,  and  shelters  an  erect,  white  col- 


138    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


umn  which  has  been  aptly  styled  "the  preacher  in 
the  pulpit."  At  the  foot  of  the  column  (not  a  pil- 
lar of  the  church)  a  small  opening  gives  access  to 
the  spur  below  where  nectar  is  concealed. 

On  the  column,  just  above  the  nectar-well,  the  ad- 
hesive stigmatic  sur- 
face is  found;  and 
above  this  again,  two 
curving  pollen-pock- 
ets. The  pollen  in 
them  consists  of  two 
club  -  shaped  masses, 
terminating  below  in 
round,  adhesive  discs; 
and  these  discs  appear 
as  two  round  dots 
above  the  nectar-well,  just  where  they  will  act  as 
buffers  to  the  head  of  an  arriving  bee,  though  they 
are  slightly  protected  by  an  exceedingly  thin  and 
fragile  membrane  that  tears  at  a  touch. 

The  mechanism  of  this  orchid,  and  its  workings, 
are  already  fairly  clear.  The  bee  arrives  on  the 
white  lip  and,  thrusting  his  tongue  down  the  well 
in  search  of  nectar,  rams  his  head  against  the  two 
adhesive  discs,  tearing  their  membranous  covering, 
and  then  cements  upon  his  brow  two  pollen  clubs 
which  he  withdraws  from  their  pockets,  and  which 


SHOWY  ORCHID 


ORCHIDS  139 

he  bears   away   like   two   horns,   erect  upon  his 
head. 

But  what  will  happen,  supposing  that  he  visits 
another  flower,  with  his  horns  in  this  erect  position? 
They  cannot  strike  the  stigma,  for  it  is  too  low. 
They  must  strike  other  pollen  pockets,  and  the 
flowers  remain  unfertilised.  But, 
curiously  enough,  the  pollen  masses 
do  not  remain  erect.  As  soon  as 
they  are  out  of  their  pockets  and 
firmly  on  the  bee,  they  both  wilt  a 
trifle,  and  droop  forward,  so  that 
they  will  exactly  hit  the  desired 
mark — the  stigma  of  the  next 
flower.  The  reader  may  test  this 
for  himself  by  thrusting  the  point 

J  SHOWY  ORCHID 

of  a  pencil  into  a  flower,  withdraw- 
ing the  pollen  clubs,  and  observing  how  quickly 
they   droop    forward,    as   if   taking   aim   at   their 
target. 

The  blossom  seems  clearly  adapted  to  fit  the  head 
of  a  bee,  and  the  nectary  is  about  the  length  of  a 
bumblebee's  tongue.  It  is  the  queen  bumblebee 
(Bombus  Americanorum)  who  pays  the  most  fre- 
quent calls,  though  occasional  butterflies  are  not 
excluded. 


140    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

ROUND-LEAVED   ORCHIS — Orchis   rotundifolia 
June-July 

This  is  the  only  other  species  of  the  Orchis  genus 
in  our  part  of  America,  and  is  much  rarer  than  the 
spectabilis.  Its  mechanism  and  procedure  are  pre- 
cisely like  those  of  its  sister-flower. 

THE    HABENARIAS 

These  have  learned  the  advantages  of  collectiv- 
ism. No  one  would  ever  speak  of  them  as  "social- 
ists" but  would  say,  rather,  that  they  assemble  in 
aristocratic  and  exclusive  clubs,  and  thus  are  im- 
posing and  effective.  Their  tapering  spikes  of 
flowers,  of  white,  or  purple,  or  gold,  are  dignified 
and  impressive,  and  each  flower  face  bears  the 
stamp  of  personality.  It  must  be  a  bold  insect  who 
dares  to  interview  them  without  an  introduction. 
The  flowers  play  odd  pranks  upon  their  callers, 
generally  fastening  upon  head  or  eyes  or  tongue 
of  each  insect  a  club  of  pollen,  which  shortly  there- 
after withers  and  droops  forward. 

We  wish  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  construc- 
tion and  customary  conduct  of  these  flowers,  so 
will  gather  and  examine  a  specimen  of  the  most 
common  and  the  easiest  to  find  in  wet,  open 
meadows. 


ORCHIDS 


141 


SMALLER   PURPLE   FRINGED  ORCHIS — Habenaria  psycodes 
July-August 

From  a  tubercled  root  rises  a  stem  about  18  inches 
high,  bearing  at  intervals  three  or  four 
clasping  leaves  and  numerous  bracts. 
At  the  summit  is  the  flower  racemo,  2 
to  4  inches  in  length — a  dense  flower 
cluster  of  purplish-pink  blossoms,  % 
to  %  inch  wide.  There  is  a  long  ovary ; 
three  roundish  sepals,  the  upper  form- 
ing a  hood ;  and  three  petals,  the  lower 
forming  the  lip.  These  petals  are  so 
fringed  and  slashed  that  they  give  each 
flower  the  droll  semblance  of  a  face 
with  perky  side-whiskers,  combed  in  '$ 
the  height  of  the  fashion. 

In  the  heart  of  the  flower  is  a  minute 
opening  just  large  enough  to  allow  a 
moth's  tongue  to  reach  the  nectar  in 
the  deep  spur  below ;  and,  guarding  this 
entrance  on  either  hand,  lie  two  paral- 
lel pollen  sacs,  containing  clubs  of  pol- 
len. The  stigmatic  surface  is  imme- 
diately above  the  opening  and  between 
the  pollen  pockets.  The  mechanism  is 
now  in  working  order  and  requires  only 

,,  .  .     .,     .  ,.      '  PURPLE  FRINGED 

the  proper  insect  to  set  it  in  motion.  ORCHID 


142    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


This  insect  is  prefer- 
ably one  of  the  small, 
day  -  sphynx  moths, 
for  no  bees  nor  bee- 
tles can  reach  the 
nectar.  Suppose, 
then,  a  sphynx  comes 
to  sip  and,  humming 
and  hovering  on  the 
wing,  he  thrusts  his 
tongue  into  the  nec- 
tary. He  will  be 
pretty  sure  in  so  do- 
ing to  touch  one  of 
the  glands  of  a  pol- 
len club  and,  retreating,  to  pull  the  pollen  mass 
out  of  its  pocket  and  carry  it  away  on  his  tongue. 

For  a  moment  the  club  stands  out  stiff,  at  right 
angles  to  the  tongue,  but  straightway  it  curves  for- 
ward and  downward ;  and  by  the  time  that  our  moth 
has  found  another  nectar-well,  the  stigma  above 
that  well  will  receive  the  touch  of  the  pollen — a 
thing  that  could  not  happen  if  the  club  retained  its 
erect  position. 

The  reader  can  "play  the  moth"  to  the  fringed 
orchid,  using  a  pencil-point  for  proboscis,  withdraw 
the  pollen  clubs  and  watch  them  promptly  wilt  and 


HABENARIA    ORBICTJLATA    AND 
CLEAR-WING   MOTH 


ORCHIDS  143 

droop,  in  anticipation  of  their  work  in  the  next 
flower,  and  thus  by  actual  experiment  verify  the 
practicability  of  the  mechanism  and  its  successful 
working. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  point  out  that  this  mech- 
anism    precludes     self-fertilisation     and     insures 
cross-fertilisation.    It  is  self-evident  that  the  pollen 
masses  are  drawn  away  from  their  own 
stigma,  and  will,  sooner  or  later,  surely 
come   in   contact   with   the   stigma   of 
another  flower.     Wherever  we  see  the 
stately   Habenaria   growing,   we   may 
be  sure  that  the  cycle  has  been  com- 
pleted, cross-fertilisation  has  been  ac- 
complished, and  seeds  have  been  formed. 
But  in  the  Habenaria  psychodes,  and 
in  all  others  of  the  orchids,  we  discover 
such  a  nice  adjustment  of  the  flower  to 
its  affinity  in  colour,  depth  of  nectar- 
well,  position  of  pollen,  and  stigma,  a 
dependence  so  complete  upon  the  in- 
stincts   and    habits    of    certain    insect 
friends,  that  we  are  unable  to  frame  any 
theory  which  shall  explain 
how  the  complex  arrange- 
ment came  to  be,  and  can 
merely  marvel  and  admire.         BROAD^LEAVED  HABENARIA 


144    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

All  the  orchids  of  the  Habenaria  genus  are  sim- 
ilar to  the  purple  fringed  orchid  in  their  arrange- 
ment, structure,  and  the  way  they  have  of  fasten- 
ing pollen  upon  their  insect  callers.  Certain  very 
slight  variations,  which  do  not  modify  the  proce- 
dure, should,  however,  be  pointed  out. 

LARGE   ROUND-LEAVED   ORCHIS — Habenaria  orbiculata 
July- August 

Remarkable  for  its  two  huge,  round  leaves,  lying 
flat  upon  the  ground,  and  its  very  deep  nectar-well, 
a  spur  l1/^  inches  long,  whose  depths  the  night- 
moths  and  butterflies  alone  can  reach  and  drain. 

In  anticipation  of  such  visits  the  flower  places  its 
pollen-pockets  divergently,  with  adhesive  glands 
toward  each  other,  and  so  spaced  as  to  just  catch 
the  head  of  a  moth  between  them.  Consequently, 
a  moth  who  abandons  all  discretion  and  ventures  so 
deep  into  the  flower  will  carry  away  two  clubs  of 
pollen,  glued  to  his  head  or  his  eyes,  as  we  see  in 
the  sketches  on  page  142. 

HOOKER'S  ORCHIS — Habenaria  Hookeriana 
June-Sept. 

An  orchid  resembling  the  former,  but  consider- 
ably smaller.  The  pollen  masses  are  attached  to 


ORCHIDS  145 

their  adhesive  glands  by  a  kind  of  hinge,  which 
allows  or  compels  them,  as  soon  as  out  of  their 
pockets  to  bend  downward  and  forward,  so  as  to 
strike  with  certainty  the  stigma  of  the  next  flower. 

TALL  WHITE  BOG  ORCHIS — Habenaria  dilatata. 
May- A  ugust 

A  strictly  northern  orchid,  being  found  in  Maine, 
the  White  and  Green  Mountains,  and  even  braving 
the  rigours  of  the  Iceland  climate.  It  is  pure  white 
in  colour,  and  has  the  peculiarity  that  the  pollen 
glands  are  shaped  like  the  sole  of  a  shoe,  and  also, 
when  the  pollen  clubs  are  removed  from  their  sacs, 
they  do  not  bend  downward,  because  they  are  al- 
ready in  a  position  upon  the  insect  such  as  con- 
veniently to  touch  the  next  stigma. 

TALL   LEAFY  GREEN   ORCHIS — Habenaria   hyperborea 
June-August 

While  this  is  similar  in  most  respects  to  the  fore- 
going orchids,  it  has  this  peculiarity:  The  pollen 
masses  are  so  loosely  contained  in  the  anther  sacs 
that  they  often  fall  out  in  the  bud  and  are  found, 
when  the  flowers  open,  to  have  rolled  about  loosely 
and  to  lie  against  the  stigma. 

Thus,  as  a  rare  exception,  this  orchid  may  be  self- 


146    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


fertilised;  but  since  the  pollen  glands  still  retain 
their  adhesiveness,  they  may  sometimes  be  borne 
away  to  the  stigma  of  another  flower,  and  thus  cross 
the  life  lines  and  stimulate  the  seedlings  into  re- 
newed vitality  and  resistance. 

SMALL  GREEN  ORCHIS;  TUBERCLED  ORCHIS — Habenaria  flava 
June-July 

An  inconspicuous  little  orchid 
found  in  wet  meadows  from  Ontario 
to  Minnesota,  and  southward  to 
Louisiana  and  Florida.  Each  little 
blossom  is  but  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
high  and  wide,  and  its  distinguish- 
ing feature  can  be  discovered  only  by 
means  of  a  strong  glass.  This  is  a 
little  protuberance  or  tubercle  grow- 
ing up  in  the  middle  of  the  lower 
lip.  I  believe  we  owe  to  Mr.  Gibson 
the  explanation  of  this  excrescence, 
which  he  supposes  to  be  intended  to 
compel  an  insect  to  approach  the 
nectar-well  from  the  right  or  the  left 
side,  and  thus  to  make  sure  that  his 
tongue  shall  touch  one  or  the  other 
gland  and  pull  away  a  mass  of 

TUBERCLED' 

ORCHID  pollen. 


ORCHIDS  147 

RAGGED  FRINGED  ORCHIS — Habenaria  lacera 
July-August 

An  orchid  having  about  the  same  range  as  the 
preceding  one,  and  also  with  a  contrivance  for  di- 
verting the  tongue  of  the  insect  to  the  right  side  or 
to  the  left.  A  projection,  again,  divides  the  path- 
way to  the  nectar-store,  but  this  time  from  above. 

The  column  bears,  stigma  and  anther  sacs  in  their 
usual  place,  above  the  opening  to  the  nectar-well, 
but  just  here  it  bends  down  into  a  little  beak,  or 
spur,  thus  dividing  the  opening  into  two  little  gates. 
A  moth's  tongue  must,  then,  pass  to  the  right  or  to 
the  left  of  the  centre,  and  in  so  doing  must  touch 
and  remove  a  pollen  gland. 

RATTLESNAKE    PLANTAIN — Epipactis 
July-August 

This  modest  little  plant  has  put  off  the  splen- 
dours of  the  orchid,  and  even  disguises  the  veining 
of  its  leaves  under  a  pattern  of  white  lace,  as  if  it 
would  shun  its  relatives  by  masquerading.  I  was 
greatly  surprised  to  know  that  this  "plantain"  was 
an  orchid,  and  to  learn  that  it  had  an  ingenious 
mechanism  resembling  that  of  the  Habenarias. 
The  flowers  are  very  minute,  but  will  yield  their 
secrets  to  close  study  under  a  magnifying-glass. 


148    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


They  grow  in  small,  spiral  racemes,  and  we  notice 
that  the  lower  flowers  on  the  spike  are 
wider  open  than  those  higher  up.     The 
reason  for  this  will  be  plain  when  we 
examine  sections  of  the  flowers.     In  the 
upper  and  partly  open  flower  the  col- 
umn is  curved  downward  and  the  lower 
lip  curved  upward,   so  that  the  pollen 
masses,  four  in  number,  come  just  where 
the  passage  leads  to  the  interior  of  the 
flower  and  the  nectar  it  contains. 
In  the  older  flowers,  growing 
farther    down,    the    pollen    has 
been  taken,  the  lip  has  uncurled 
downward,  and  the  column  has 
straightened  up,  so  as  to  expose 
its    stigmatic    surface,    beneath, 
to  the  pollen  which  a  bee  may 
bring. 

The  cycle  of  action  is  as  fol- 
lows: From  the  upper  blossoms 
the  bee  carries  away  some  pol- 
len-masses upon  his  tongue,  and 
these,  as  usual,  wilt  and  incline 
forward.  From  this  flower-spike 
the  bee  sweeps  downward  to  the 
RATTLESNAKE  PLANTAIN  lower  flowers  of  a  neighbouring 


ORCHIDS 


149 


spike,  and  finds  the  portal  open  wide.  Opposite 
him,  within,  stands  the  stigma,  ready  to  receive  and 
hold  any  pollen  that  comes  that  way. 

Thus  there  is  a  shifting  of  pollen  from  flower 
to  flower,  and  thus  it  is  that  the  modest  little  plants 
make  their  many  seeds,  and  form  large  colonies, 
matting  the  cool  pine  forest  far  and  wide. 

There  are  three  species  of  the  Epipactis  in  our 
region — the  re  pens,  pubcscens,  and  decipiens,  but 
their  modes  of  procuring  cross-fertilisation  are 
identical. 


LADY'S  TRESSES — GyrostacTiys 
September 

The  last  orchids  of  the  year  are  the 
lady's  tresses,  whose  slender  and  grace- 
ful spires  adorn  many  a  field  and  road- 
side. We  have  seven  species  growing 
in  our  northern  and  eastern  region,  all 
of  whom  have  one  mode  of  procuring 
cross-fertilisation,  a  mode  closely  resem- 
bling that  of  the  rattlesnake  plantain. 
We  find  the  same  mechanism  of  the 
column,  bent  downward  in  the  newly 
opened  flowers,  rising  as  time  goes  on, 
to  expose  its  stigmatic  surface  to  the 

1         f  j.1  11  LADIES' 

touch  of  the  pollen.  TRESSES 


150    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

But  in  the  Gyrostachys  the  pollen  is  held  be- 
tween  the  forked,  or  two-toothed,  beak  which  ter- 
minates the  column,  in  a  kind  of  sugar-tongs  con- 
trivance which  comes  away  with  its  contents  of  pol- 
len-masses upon  the  slightest  touch  of  the  insect. 

The  first  sketch  shows  a  young  flower  with  the 
beak  in  place  on  the  column.  The 
second  shows  the  beak  or  tongs  split 
open  and  discharging  the  pollen. 
The  third  shows  an  older  flower, 
whence  pollen  has  been  removed 
and  where  the  column  has  risen, 
exposing  its  stigmatic  surface  to 
the  approach  of  the  visitor,  often  a 
bumblebee. 

The  reader  will  understand  with 
what     precision     the     mechanism         TRESSES 
works,   sending  away  its   own  charge   of  pollen, 
then  readjusting  itself  to  receive  some  pollen  from 
another  flower. 

Certain  orchids,  as  we  have  said,  enclose  their 
pollen  in  little  boxes  which  open  only  as  the  insect 
backs  out  of  the  flower,  and  snap  shut  again.  The 
contrivance  reminds  us  somewhat  of  the  mechanism 
on  the  stigma  of  the  iris,  a  lip  which  acts  as  a  lid 
to  protect  it  from  the  touch  of  its  own  pollen,  or  as 
a  scoop  to  scrape  up  pollen  brought  from  a  distant 
source.  But  the  places  of  stamens  and  stigma  are 


ORCHIDS 


151 


interchanged  —  as  we  see  in  the  sectional  view  of 
the  rose  pogonia. 

ROSE  POGONIA;  SNAKE-MOUTH  POGONIA  —  Pogonia  ophioglos- 
soides 


This  is  a  very  common  orchid,  to  be  found  in 
meadows  and  swamps  from  Canada  to  Florida, 
and  as  far  westward  as  Kansas.  And,  strange  to 
say,  from  thence  it  seems  to  jump  across  mountains 
and  sea,  to  flourish  in  Japan. 

The  name  "snake-mouth" 
very  well  describes  the  shape 
of  this  flower,  a  veritable 
mouth  formed  by  six  petals 
and  sepals,  the  lower  one, 
forming  the  lip  or  chin,  bear- 
ing a  mat  of  strongly  coloured 
tufts  on  which  the  bee  may 
travel  to  the  nectary. 

The  column,  projecting 
horizontally  forward,  bears 
the  stigma  on  its  under  side, 
and  the  anther  sacs  on  its 
forward  end.  But  the  sacs 
are  covered  by  a  spring  lid 

SNAKE-MOUTH  PO- 

holding  in  the  pollen  masses  GONIA 

securely  till  the  proper  time  comes. 

The  bee  can  reach  the  nectar  unimpeded,  and  if 


152    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


he  brings  pollen  on  his  back  he  can  place  it  upon 
the  stigma  where  it  will  adhere,  but  only  as  he  re- 
treats will  he  open  the  lid  of  the  pollen-box  and 
carry  away  to  another  flower  some  of  its  contents. 
Other  pogonias  have  the  same  spring-lids  upon 
their  anthers,  and,  consequently,  comport  them- 
selves in  the  manner  described.  Our 
sketches  show  a  flower  with  the  bee 
entering;  a  sectional  view  with  the  bee 
making  his  exit,  and  unconsciously  open- 
ing the  pollen  box  and  carrying  away 
some  pollen;  and  a  section  of  a  flower 
where  the  bee  is  entering 
and  is  rubbing  off  some 
of  his  pollen-burden  upon 
the  stigmatic  surface  on 
the  under  side  of  the  column. 

WHORLED  POGONIA — Pogonia  ver- 
ticillata  (May-June} 

This  orchid  is  quite  common, 
yet  less  easy  to  find,  because  its 
discreet  colours  of  green  and 
dark  purplish  brown  melt  into 
the  surroundings  and  almost 
hide  it  from  view.  Its  three 
WHORLED  POGONIA  long,  dark  streamers  give  it  an 


ORCHIDS  153 

odd  appearance,  but  the  lip,  frilled  and  blotched, 
is  very  beautiful.  The  spring  mechanism  of  the 
pollen-box  is  precisely  like  that  of  the  previous 
one. 

ARETHUSA — Arethusa  bulbosa 
May-June 

This  is  probably  the  most  beautiful  of  our  native 
orchids,  though  Arethusa  and  Calypso  might  easily 
tie  one  another  in  a  beauty  contest.  The  stem 
grows  from  a  small  bulbous  root  to  a  height  of  five 
to  ten  inches,  with  a  few  linear  leaves,  and  bears 
at  its  summit  the  solitary,  nodding  flower  of  a 
lovely  rose-purple  hue.  Above  the  throat  of  the 
flower  are  three  banners  and  a  hood  of  purple;  be- 
low it,  a  lip  drooping  and  blotched  with  purple  and 
yellow. 

Under  the  hood  the  column  rises  and  curves 
forward  and  downward,  guarding  the  approach 
to  the  deep  nectar-well.  The  stigmatic  surface 
is  beneath  the  curved  column;  and  the  anther  sac 
at  the  outer  end  retains  the  four  pollen  masses  by 
a  little  spring  cap. 

The  mechanism  of  Arethusa  operates  in  exactly 
the  same  manner  as  that  of  the  Pogonias,  and  needs 
no  further  description. 


154    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

CORAL  ROOT — Corallorrhiza 
May-July-Sept. 

The  coral  roots,  of  which  we  possess  three  species, 
are  dull,  inconspicuous  and  not  prepossessing.  The 
fact  that  they  are  orchids  lends  them  a  certain  in- 
terest, and  their  mechanism  is  worth  studying.  But 
since  both  their  construction  and  their  operation  are 
practically  identical  with  the  two  just  described, 
the  student  needs  no  further  suggestions  to  guide 
his  investigations. 

LILY-LEAVED   T WAYS  LADES — Liparis   lilifolia 
June-July 

A  quaint  little  orchid,  rarely  seen  hereabouts, 
though  it  is  listed  in  the  botanies  as  rather  common 


LARGER  TWAYBLADES 

in  New  England.  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  dis- 
cover and  to  transplant  close  to  my  study  door  two 
specimens  which  have  lived  and  flowered  six  suc- 
cessive seasons,  but  without  ever  once  making  seeds 
or  increasing  in  numbers.  I  have  tried  to  cross- 
fertilise  them  artificially,  but  without  success.  They 


ORCHIDS  155 

unfold  two  ovate  leaves,  resembling  those  of  the 
lily-of-the-valley,  and  send  up  from  between  them 
a  flower-stalk  about  six  inches  tall,  upon  which  clus- 
ter a  dozen  or  more  blossoms,  looking  like  a  small 
swarm  of  mosquitoes.  This  effect  is  due  to  the 
slender,  spreading  petals  and  sepals,  and  a  diapha- 
nous and  smoke-tinted  lip,  like  a  mosquito's  wing. 
This  lip  has  a  groove  along  its  centre,  leading  to  the 
nectar-well,  over  whose  opening  the  green  column 
rises  in  the  form  of  a  beak,  cupped  with  a  pointed 
lid.  In  the  upper  end  of  the  column  are  two  de- 
pressions containing  the  pollen  masses,  two  in  each. 

I  have  never  seen  any  insect  at  work  on  this 
flower,  and  I  have  observed  that  the  caps  over  the 
pollen  are  never  disturbed.  Nor  has  any  scientific 
observer,  so  far  as  I  have  read,  been  able  to  tell  us 
of  these  visits.  But  the  mechanism  is  practically 
identical  with  those  already  described,  and  its  work- 
ing is  bound  to  be  much  the  same. 

Here,  however,  is  a  flower  which  presents  to  the 
student  a  rare  opportunity  for  original  investiga- 
tion, and  a  subject  for  an  essay  which  shall  add  dis- 
tinctly to  our  fund  of  knowledge. 

There  is  another  of  our  native  orchids,  the  grass 
pink,  or  Calopogon,  which  is  even  more  mysterious, 
in  that  its  mechanism  is  apparently  simple,  yet  its 
workings  are  not  understood. 


156    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

It  is  the  rule,  nearly  absolute,  among  our  native 
orchids,  that  the  ovary  is  twisted  through  180  de- 
grees and  we  find  the  external  ribs  or  ridges  de- 
scribing spirals  about  them.  The  result  of  this 
twist  is  that  almost  all  the  orchid  flowers  are  actu- 
ally inverted.  Their  upper  petals  have  become  the 
lower  lips,  and  for  so  many  centuries  have  served 
as  lips  and  landing-stages  for  insects  that  these  mis- 
placed petals  have  taken  on  colours  and  form,  chan- 
nels and  tufty  beards,  to  fit  them  for  the  work  they 
have  to  perform. 

But  the  Calopogon  and  the  Habenaria  niva  have 
not  thus  turned  their  heads  upside  down,  and  in 
these  two  we  may,  perhaps,  find  the  earliest  and 
the  latest  development  of  our  orchids. 

SOUTHERN   WHITE   SMALL  ORCHIS — Habenaria  nivea 

This  rare  and  inconspicuous  little  orchid  has  a 
remarkable  and  exceptional  feature — its  ovary  is 
seen  to  be  normal  and  the  ridges  upon  its  surface 
straight  and  parallel.  The  spur,  where  nectar  is 
secreted,  consequently  lies  above  the  ovary;  and 
the  petal  which  usually  forms  the  lip,  here  waves 
as  a  banner  above  the  nectar-well. 

In  Mr.  Gibson's  book  on  the  orchids  I  read  of 
this  flower  and  the  insect's  visit  to  it: 

"Perhaps  there  are  some  odd  manners  left  over 


ORCHIDS  157 

from  the  Tertiary  age,  when  plants  that  are  now 
found  only  in  fossil  form  on  the  pine  barrens  were 
the  progenitors  of  the  modern  orchid.  Possibly  the 
straight  ovary  is  a  relic  of  an  earlier,  simpler  form 
of  orchid,  and  the  twisted  ovary  a  concession  to  the 
manners  of  insects  of  later  days,  and  possibly  it  is 
because  the  insects  are  not  well  adapted  to  the  over- 
reaching spur,  that  the  plant  is  so  rare." 

This  southern  specimen,  it  will  be  noted,  has  no 
beard  nor  markings  upon  either  the  upper  or  the 
lower  petal,  so  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
may  be  called  "the  lip." 

Let  us  now  examine  the  northern  orchid,  the 
other  exception  to  the  rule  above  stated. 

GRASS  PINK — Calopogon  pulchellus 
July 

An  orchid  very  common  in  bogs  and  moist  places 
throughout  our  region,  with  a  straight  ovary,  and 
the  column  curving  down- 
ward with  the  stigma  on  the 
upper  surface  and  the  lidded 
anther-cells  underneath.  But 
in  the  Calopogon  the  upper 
petal  displays  a  tufty  beard 
of  yellow  and  magenta- 

.      '  ,  .  .  .,  DIAGRAM     OF     CALOPO- 

crimson— showing,    in    spite  GON 


158    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

of  its  erect  position,  that  it  has  been  a  lip,  a  path- 
finder and  a  landing-stage  for  insects,  and  that  it 
still  has  work  to  do  in  that  line. 

It  seems  as  if  the  Calopogon  had  gone  through 
all  the  stages  of  development,  twisting  up  the  ovary, 
working  out  its  mechanism  for  cross-fertilisation, 
assuming  pleasing  fragrance  and  alluring  colour, 
shaping  its  stigma  and  pollen,  its  column  and  lip  to 
conform  to  certain  insect  visitors ;  then,  by  a  streak 
of  atavism,  a  trick  well  known  to  breeders  of  plants 
and  animals,  had  reverted  to  a  primitive  type,  had 
straightened  out  its  ovary,  and  had  turned  its  life 
topsy-turvy. 

I    can    liken    the    Calo- 
pogon's  story  to  that  of  a 
country  lad  who  had  lived 
many  years  in  the  strenu- 
ous city,  and,  returning  to 
country  life  once  more,  had 
found    it    good.      For    the 
Calopogon    certainly    finds 
life  good,  and  is  immensely 
successful  in  the  struggle  for  existence. 
Let  us  see  what  it  does  for  a  living 
in  this  reversed  position.    Gray  tells  us 
that  "the  lip  is  as  if  hinged" — and  you 
will  have  the  fact  confirmed  if  you  bring 
CALOPOGON        a  spire  home  and  keep  it  in  water  over 


ORCHIDS  159 

night.  Though  the  flowers  are  not  otherwise  faded, 
the  lip  on  the  oldest  flower,  which  stood  so  stiff  and 
erect,  will  now  droop  forward,  and  its  gay  beard 
will  hide  its  colours  upon  the  upturned  stigma. 
You  will  find  the  same  to  be  true  of  the  lips  of  older 
flowers  as  they  grow  in  the  fields.  Here,  then,  is 
a  distinct  mechanism,  planned  to  accomplish  some 
purpose  in  the  direction  of  cross-fertilisation.  The 
change  in  the  lip  has  modified  the  flower  com- 
pletely, as  seen  in  the  two  sketches.  A  bee  ap- 
proaching the  upper  blossom  will  naturally  make 
for  the  bright  spot  on  the  erect  lip,  and  cling  fast  to 
the  roughened,  hairy  surface.  But  where  the  lip 
has  shut  down,  the  heart  of  the  flower  will  seem 
closed,  and  the  bee  will  alight  on  the  petal  which 
hangs  down  in  the  middle,  a  landing-stage  directly 
under  the  pollen-sacs. 

Here,  then,  is  my  explanation  of  the  action  of 
the  flower :  A  bee  comes  to  a  mature  blossom  whose 
lip  is  depressed,  alights  upon  the  lower  petal,  which 
serves  as  a  lip  or  door-step  in  this  new  position,  and 
thrusting  his  head  in  under  the  column  where  nectar 
ought  to  be,  he  casually  knocks  off  the  cap  from 
the  pollen-cells  and  receives  a  charge  of  pollen. 

He  probably  goes  away  from  this  visit  disap- 
pointed as  to  nectar,  but  seeks  a  more  hospitable 
flower  elsewhere,  whose  lip  is  erect.  Now,  with  the 
pollen  upon  his  back,  how  can  he  deposit  it  on  the 


160    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

upturned  stigma  ?  The  explanation  is  that  he  makes 
a  "bee  line"  for  the  brightly  coloured  lip,  grasps  it 
with  his  claws,  and  with  all  his  weight  pulls  it  over 
upon  himself  and  tumbles  backward  upon  the 
stigma,  placing  his  pollen-charge  just  where  it  is 
most  wanted.  In  an  unceremonious  way,  the  pol- 
len has  been  projected  into  the  heart  of  the  flower, 
the  bee  has  paid  his  toll  and  now  is  free  to  wander 
about  and  drink  all  the  nectar  he  can  find  secreted 
there. 

If  the  reader  wishes  to  pursue  the  subject  still 
further,  and  investigate  the  doings  of  the  foreign 
orchids,  he  will  unearth  mysteries  still  more  roman- 
tic and  extraordinary  than  any  we  have  thus  far 
unveiled.  He  will  learn  of  an  orchid,  the  Pasquira 
fragrens,  which  actually  shoots  its  pollen  mass,  ex- 
actly as  a  submarine  shoots  its  torpedo.  Then  he 
will  come  upon  the  story  of  a  Catteleya  which,  for 
nine  successive  years,  produced  pistillate  flowers, 
to  the  despair  of  its  owner,  till  a  time  came  when  it 
at  last  sent  up  a  pollen-bearing  flower. 

Even  a  legend  is  current  of  a  vampire  orchid 
which  deadened  the  senses  of  its  finder,  in  order  to 
suck  the  blood  from  his  veins.  The  romance  of  the 
lost  orchid,  too,  is  full  of  thrills.  A  few  specimens 
were  owned  and  treasured,  but  they  gradually 
dwindled  and  died  away  and  their  existence  became 


ORCHIDS  161 

but  a  memory,  till  the  British  army  forced  its  way 
into  the  closed  boundaries  of  Thibet,  and  restored 
the  lost  orchid  to  the  world. 

The  Flower  Kingdom  is  still  full  of  surprises, 
and  its  mysteries  have  not  yet  been  unravelled.  In 
the  foregoing  pages  we  have  shown  the  way,  and 
we  hope  that  the  student  will  be  inspired  to  follow 
the  trail.  For  every  excursion  will  bring  some  new 
secret  to  light,  and  many  familiar  flowers  will  re- 
veal a  life  history  which  it  has  been  hiding  for  cen- 
turies in  its  heart. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   WIND   AND   THE   FLOWERS 

HE  reader  may  think  it 
strange  and  inconsistent  for  us 
to  turn  from  our  studies  of  the 
most  complex,  interesting,  and 
highly  developed  of  the  flowers, 
and  give  our  attention  to  the  sim- 
ple, primitive,  and  lowly  ones,  which  trust  their 
lives  and  destinies  to  the  fickle  favours  of  the  wind. 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWERS    163 

It  was  only  after  my  interest  and  enthusiasm 
were  aroused  by  the  very  showy  flowers  that  I  be- 
came curious  to  solve  the  mysteries  of  their  humble 
relatives,  who  had  no  colour,  nectar,  nor  perfume 
to  offer. 

Where  these  charms  are  lacking  in  flowers,  in- 
sects are  apt  to  pass  them  by ;  and  we,  too,  are  prone 
to  do  the  same.  But  once  our  interest  is  aroused, 
we  are  sure  to  seek  out  the  mysteries  of  such  humble 
and  inconspicuous  flowers  as  those  of  the  trees, 
grasses,  cereals  and  rank  weeds.  In  fact,  we 
scarcely  suspect  that  some  of  these  bear  any  flow- 
ers ;  yet  flowers  they  have,  such  as  they  are,  and  in 
great  abundance.  For  flowers  are  known  by  what 
they  accomplish ;  and  these  inconspicuous  ones  give 
seedling  forests  to  clothe  barren  hillsides,  myriad 
grasses  and  grain  for  our  fields,  and  hosts  of  weeds 
to  teach  us  patience  in  our  gardens. 

Wind  fertilisation  of  the  flowers  may  be  consid- 
ered as  a  crude  and  primitive  plan,  for  it  was  cer- 
tainly in  operation  before  insects  came  to  do  the 
work,  and  the  two  schemes  suggest  a  comparison 
with  Man's  work  of  early  days  and  now.  As  wind 
and  water  did  the  work  of  carrying  pollen,  so  men 
used  wind  and  water  to  do  their  hardest  tasks,  of 
grinding,  spinning  and  sawing.  Later  men  tamed 
beasts  of  burden,  and  flowers  ensnared  their  insects 


164    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

and  trained  them  to  fetch  and  carry,  to  work  and 
toil  in  return  for  the  meagre  compensation  of  food. 
We  have  seen  how  ingeniously  and  completely  the 
flowers  were  the  taskmasters.  Let  us  now  see  how 
trees  and  plants  have  harnessed  the  wind,  and  make 
use  of  it  to  carry  pollen.  This  pollen  is  extremely 
fine,  and  light,  so  as  to  fly  far,  and  also  most  abund- 
ant, in  order  to  allow  for  great  waste  while  a  small 
proportion  reaches  the  desired  goal. 

The  pollen  of  pine-trees  sometimes  falls  in  such 
quantities  as  to  be  taken  as  a  shower  of  sulphur  or 
"yellow  snow."  It  has  been  caught  by  a  kite  flying 
1200  feet  in  the  air,  and  has  been  found  upon  the 
snows  as  high  in  the  Alps.  Out  at  sea,  some  300 
miles  from  land,  the  sailors  sometimes  sweep  it  from 
their  ship's  deck  in  bucketfuls.  But  this  gigantic 
swarm  of  pollen  grains  is  set  free  from  the  trees  in 
the  spring,  before  leaves  have  unfolded  to  impede 
it  in  its  flight.  It  is  produced  by  stamens  somewhat 
similar  to  those  of  other  flowers,  though  clustered 
together  in  tassels,  or  cones,  forming  monoecious 
or  dioecious  flowers. 

The  pistillate  flowers  to  which  the  pollen  is  con- 
signed are  of  two  very  distinct  forms :  those  having 
no  stigma,  but  the  seed  exposed,  and  hence  called 
naked,  seeded,  or  "gymnospermous,"  such  as  the 
pines,  larches  and  firs;  and  those  having  enormous 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWERS     165 

stigmas  but  seeds  enclosed  in  a  case  or  pericarp,  and 
hence  called  "angiospermous"  flowers,  as  in  the 
birch,  cat-tail,  dock  and  others. 

There  is  a  lofty  independence  and  majestic  op- 
timism about  the  great  pines  which  fling  opulently 
their  pollen  to  the  breeze,  hundreds  of  feet  above  the 
loftiest  flights  of  earth-born  insects.  Let  us  see  how 
the  pollen  sometimes  reaches  its  destination. 


PINE  CONE 
(a)  Staminate  Form;  (b)  Anther;  (c)  Pollen  Grain 

In  the  spring  the  pines  put  forth  new  growth, 
and  at  the  tips  of  the  tender  branches  appear  little 
cones — shown  in  the  two  sketches.  The  staminate 
cones  are  the  smaller  and  more  numerous.  The 
overlapping  scales  of  these  cones  are  each  a  stamen, 


166    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

with  two  anther  sacs  on  their  lower  sides.  On  their 
upper  sides  are  often  hollows,  or  depressions,  to 
catch  the  pollen  and  to  give  it  to  the  wind  uni- 
formly. The  pollen  grains  of  the  pine,  as  they 
ripen,  develop  little  wings — shown  in  the  drawing 
— which  help  to  sustain  them  on  the  long  and  hazar- 
dous flight.  Most  of  them  come  to  grief  on  the  voy- 
age; only  an  infinitesimal  proportion  reach  port. 


(d) 


PINE  CONE 
(a)  Pistillate  Form;   (b)  Ovule;  (c)   Scale  with  Seed;  (d)  Seed 

They  remind  me  of  rays  of  a  wireless  message — 
shot  into  the  air  and  scattering  in  space  in  every 
direction,  only  one  small  impulse  reaching  the  re- 
ceiving antenna?  and  carrying  the  desired  message. 
The  receiving  station,  or  pistillate  cone,  stands 
erect,  its  scales  open,  forming  numerous  cavities  in 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWERS     167 

which  the  pollen  may  lodge  like  yellow  snow-drifts 
— as  seen  in  the  sectional  drawing.  On  the  under 
side  of  each  scale,  near  the  base,  two  little  ovules 
are  waiting.  They  have  no  pistils  but,  instead, 
small  openings  leading  within.  At  each  opening 
is  a  little  drop  of  moisture  which  catches  and  holds 
the  pollen  grains  brought  by  the  wind.  The  fluid 
gradually  dries  up,  drawing  the  pollen  grains  with- 
in the  pollen-chambers  to  the  ovule,  which  thus  is 
fertilised.  Then  the  scales  of  the  cone  close,  and 
the  whole  cone  droops  upon  its  stem  as  a  protection 
against  the  rain.  It  increases  enormously  in  size 
while  the  seeds  are  developing  within.  A  year  and 
a  half  pass  by  before  the  scales  open  again,  but  this 
time  to  release  a  flight  of  little  winged  seeds,  which 
go  whirling  away  to  grow  into  new  trees,  if  they 
can.* 

Angiospermous  flowers,  whose  ovules  are  con- 
cealed, necessarily  put  forth  enormous  stigmas  to 
catch  the  flying  pollen. 

The  staminate  and  pistillate  flowers  are  some- 
times clustered  into  separate  catkins,  as  in  the  hazel 
and  beech. 

The  sketch  of  a  chestnut  bough  in  bloom  shows 

*  See  Contribution  to  Knowledge  of  Life  History  of  the  Pine  by 
Margaret  C.  Ferguson,  in  Bulletin  of  Washington  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, 1906. 


168    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

us  how  the  pollen  is  made  upon  pretty  tassels  and 
is  caught  by  scaly  stigmas.     Some  plants,  such  as 


CHESTNUT 


the  box-elder,  dock  and  sorrel,  bear  pendulous  flow- 
ers. Others,  again,  are  distinguished  by  their  long, 
loose  stamens. 

In  the  sketch  of  a  single  floret  of  the  timothy, 
remark  the  long,  branching  pistil  and  the  curious, 
dangling  stamens.     There  are 
two  anther-cells,  like  two  bean- 
pods,  growing  back  to  back  and 
splitting  open  at  the  lower  end 
to  set  the  pollen  free.     These 
stamens  are  all  packed  closely 
into  the  floret  till  a  warm,  dry,        FLORET  OF  TIMOTHY 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWERS     169 


HOP  VINE 

Staminate  Flowers 


breezy  day  comes,  when  they  burst  out  of  bounds, 
dangle  at  the  ends  of  their  hairlike  filaments,  and 
swing  and  sway  gaily,  scattering  their  pollen  like 
maskers  throwing  confetti ;  and,  like  conf ettis  their 
pollen  floats  away  to  their  neighbours. 

Grasses  bear  perfect  flowers  but  hops  are  monoe- 
cious. The  two  sketches  show  branches  of  hop  vines 
taken  from  different 
plants,  and  exhibiting  the 
enlarged  staminate  flower 
with  its  umbrella  -  like 
calyx  and  pendulous  sta- 
mens symmetrically  ar- 
ranged. In  the  pistillate  flower  we  see  the  long, 
shaggy  pistils  protruding  from  beneath  the  scales. 

When  I  was  a  boy  and 
used  to  help  in  gathering 
the  hops  for  our  home- 
made yeast,  I  imagined 
that  the  bitter,  yellow  H0p  VINB 

powder  concealed  between  pistillate  flowers 

the  scales  was  the  pollen;  but  I  have  learned  that 
I  was  in  error.  Botanists  do  not  seem  to  know 
what  is  the  use  of  this  powder,  but  brewers  know 
it  is  valuable  in  flavouring  their  beer. 

Our  billion-dollar  corn  crop  every  season  hangs 
for  a  while  suspended  on  these  frail,  impalpable 


170    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


threads,  and  flies  at 
hazard  on  the  wind. 
Corn,  as  we  know, 
forms  tassels  of 
staminate  flowers  at 
the  apex  of  each 
stalk,  and  "ears" 
of  pistillate  flowers 
below.  Staminate 
flowers  may  be  seen 
in  the  upper  sketch ; 
and,  below,  a  single 
flower  greatly  en- 
larged. A  tassel 
discharges  great 
quantities  of  pollen, 
sending  it  forth, 
not  all  at  once,  but 
day  after  day,  as 
the  stamens  pro- 
gressively mature ; 
and  this  pollen 
sweeps  through  the 

corn  patch  and  lodges  here  and  there  upon  the 

"silk." 

For  each  corn  silk  is  the  stigma  of  a  single  little 


CORN 

(a)  Plant  in  full,  (b)  Staminate  Tas- 
sel, (c)  Flower.  (d)  Pistillate 
Flower  Cluster.  (e)  Silk.  (f) 
Stigma. 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWERS     171 


floret;  and  every  floret  on  the  cob  has  its  long 
strand,  reaching  out  for  life — as  we  see  in  the  lower 
drawing,  where  silks  are  separated  to  show  their 
attachments.    A  single  kernel  is  shown,  separately, 
and  the  stigmatic  termination  of  a  pistil,  greatly  en- 
larged.   Every  strand  of  silk  must  get  its  poller?  or 
the  corresponding  kernel  of  corn  will  fail  to  perfect. 
The  value   of   cross-fertilisation  is 
beautifully  illustrated  in  the  case  of 
corn,  for,  if  a  stalk  grows  solitary  and 
removed  from  reach  of  pollen  from 
neighbours,    it    produces    either    no 
grains  at  all,  or  a  few  due  to  self- 
fertilisation  which  are  poor  and  im- 
perfect. 

Other  plants  with  long,  swinging  sta- 
mens are  sedges,  reeds,  hemp,  litorella, 
water-starwort,  early  meadow-rue. 

The  common  ragweed  grows 
its  pistillate  flowers  in  the  axils 
of  the  leaves,  and  its  staminate 
flowers  in  the  tassel  above,  as 
shown  in  the  drawing.  The 
anthers,  however,  do  not  hang 
loosely,  but  are  packed  into  an 


RAGWEED 


172     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


Floret  above 

with     pistil 


umbrella-shaped  calyx,  like  berries  in 
a  basket. 

Some  plants,  fertilised  by  the  wind, 
perfect  their  pistils  before  the  stamens, 
as  we  saw  in  the  case  of  the  two  plan- 
tains. In  the  sketch  are  seen  two  florets 
of  the  common  plantain,  the  upper  in 
the  pistillate  and  the 
lower  in  the  staminate 
stage. 

Many   flowers  grow 

J 

in  stiff  spikes  with  the 
staminate  above  and 
the  pistillate  below. 
The  cat-tail  is  a  well-known  type 
of  this  arrangement.  The  burr- 
reed  shown  in  the  drawing  is  a 
singularly  decorative  plant  of  like 
habit. 

Finally,  we  come  to  a  class  of 
flowers,  fertilised  by  the  wind, 
which  discharge  their  pollen  into 
the  air  explosively.  It  is  said  that 
the  mulberry,  the  pelletory,  and 
the  nettle  are  so  organised.  I 
have  read  that  between  five  and 
BURR  REED  six  o'clock  of  a  dry  morning  one 


THE  WIND  AND  THE  FLOWERS     173 


may  see  little  puffs  of  pollen  rising  above 
the  nettle  plants  like  a  faint  mist;  but,  though  I 
have  been  well  stung  by  this  plant  in  the  interests 
of  science,  I  myself  have  never  seen  the  pyrotech- 
nics. The  flowers  are  of  exceedingly  simple  con- 
struction, consisting,  as  we  see  in  the  detail  sketches, 
of  a  calyx  and  stigma  in 
the  one  case,  and  of  a 
calyx  and  four  spreading 
stamens  in  the  other.  But 
before  the  staminate  flower 
opens,  the  filaments  are 
curved  inward  and  the  an- 
thers are  turned  downward,  / 
as  shown  in  the  sectional 
sketch  of  a  closed  bud. 
Herein  lies  the  secret  of 
the  explosive  pollen.  For, 
when  the  bud  opens  at 
dawn,  these  curved  fila- 
ments are  released  and 
straighten  themselves  out 
with  sudden  force,  and  thus 
throw  the  pollen  to  the 
morning  breeze. 

NETTLE 


CHAPTER  VII 

SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS 

EFINITION    and   description   of  a 
thing  implies  the  existence  of  its  op- 
posite.    There  are  exceptions  to  every 
rule,  and  this  applies  to  the  cross-ferti- 
lisation of  flowers.     All  flowers  are  not 
always  and  invariably  cross-fertilised.     Many 
of  them  at  times  are  self-fertilised.     In  fact, 
the  rule  is  that  no  flower  can  live  upon  self- 
fertilisation  alone,  but  must  occasionally  have  its 
pollen  crossed  with  that  of  another  flower  of  the 
same  species. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  perfect  flowers  were 
entirely  self-fertilised,  and  as  the  struggle  for  ex- 
istence became  more  and  more  fierce,  they  devised 
for  themselves  means  that  should  better  fit  their 
race  to  conquer. 

Let  us  see  what  flowers  may  or  may  not  be  self- 
fertilised.  In  the  first  place,  we  may  cut  out  all 
our  orchids,  save  one.  They,  with  the  exception 

174 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS     175 

of  the  tall  leafy  green  orchis,  are  so  organised  as 
completely  to  prohibit  self -fertilisation. 

The  complicated  mechanism  of  the  milkweed 
rigidly  exacts  cross-fertilisation;  and  we  know  that 
the  clover  is  as  firm  in  the  matter — as  was  proved 
by  the  experience  of  the  farmers  of  Australia,  who 
could  get  no  clover  to  make  seed  till  bumblebees 
were  imported. 

The  jewel- weed,  iris,  trumpet-vine,  and  monkey- 
flower  should  be  crossed  off,  since  their  mechanisms 
also  forbid  self-fertilisation.  Then,  the  many  flow- 
ers whose  stamens  shed  pollen  and  wither  before 
the  stigma  is  ripe,  of  which  the  wild  geranium  is  a 
type,  are  practically  secure  against  self-fertilisa- 
tion ;  for,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  they  are  stam- 
inate  flowers  at  one  stage  and  pistillate  at  another. 

The  flowers  belonging  to  the  classes  so  far  men- 
tioned are  perpetuated  through  cross-fertilisation 
only. 

After  them  come  many  flowers  which  are  less 
strict  in  their  habits,  and  which  permit  or  even  ar- 
range for  self-fertilisation,  as  a  last  resort,  to  avoid 
extermination. 

In  the  mountain  laurel  flower  it  might  easily  hap- 
pen that  a  few  grains  of  pollen  should  be  thrown 
upon  the  stigma,  though  as  a  rule  the  body  of  the 
moth  visiting  the  flower  is  likely  to  form  a  shield 


176    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

and  a  target  to  receive  the  charge  and  bear  it  away. 
Among  flowers  of  the  Lily  family  stamens  grown 
old  often  incline  inward  and  rub  the  stigma,  giv- 
ing up  any  pollen  they  may  yet  retain.  The  trillium 
might  easily  be  self-fertilised,  and  the  early  dog- 
tooth violet  usually  is  so.  The  wide  open  flowers 
of  the  Rose  family  offer  little  barrier  to  stop  pol- 
len from  passing  from  stamens  to  stigma;  hence, 
the  purple-flowering  Virginia  raspberry  is  fre- 
quently self-fertilised,  as  is  also  the  high  black- 
berry. Following  we  give  a  list  of  flowers  where 
the  same  is  possible  or  likely  to  occur: 

Pitcher-plant 

Turtle-head 

Nicotina 

White  water-lily 

Lady's-smock,  or  Cuckoo-flower 

Bulbous  or  Spring  Cress 

Meadow-sweet 

Enchanter's  Nightshade 

Flowering  Dogwood 

Toadflax 

Hound's  Tongue 

Sweet  William 

Downy  Phlox 

Ground  or  Moss  Pink 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS     177 

Besides  these,  there  are  certain  flowers  which, 
though  usually  cross-fertilised,  yet  have  certain 
tricks  and  schemes  to  fertilise  themselves.  Here 
we  find  the  inventive  ingenuity  of  flowers  mani- 
fested in  a  new  direction,  and  for  an  unexpected 
purpose. 

Some  flowers  with  long,  tubular  corollas  and 
persistent  pistils  have  a  curious  way  of  withering, 
separating  from  the  calyx  and  slipping  down  the 
styles  till  they  hang,  loosely  swinging  by  the 
stigma.  I  have  often  seen  faded  azalea,  honey- 
suckle and  convolvulus  flowers  so  dangling,  and 
wondered  why  they  did  so,  till  I  heard  the  expla- 
nation given  that  here  was  a  means  for  bringing 
loose,  stray  pollen  grains,  which  might  acciden- 
tally remain  in  the  tube,  down  to  the  stigma, 
where  it  might  be  greatly  needed.  If  this  be 
the  correct  solution  of  the  matter,  we  here  have 
a  very  curious  mechanism  to  accomplish  self- 
fertilisation. 

In  the  Campanulas  and  Gentians  the  relative  po- 
sitions of  stamens  and  stigmas  favour  cross-fertili- 
sation, but  in  case  the  customary  visitor  fails  to  ar- 
rive with  the  desired  cargo  of  pollen  the  stigmas 
will  split  downward  more  and,  curving  outward, 
come  into  contact  with  the  anthers,  or  with  pollen 
collected  in  the  corolla. 


178    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

ROUND-LEAVED  MALLOW — Malva  rotundifolia 

This  attracts  few  insects  by  its 
small  pale  flowers,  and  consequently 
is  able  to  fertilise  its  own  stigmas  in 
the  following  curious  way. 

In  the  centre  of  the  flower  rises  a 
stalk,  close  about  which  grow  nu- 
merous anthers.  Above  them  springs 
a  cluster  of  styles,  each  bearing  a 
stigma.  If  an  insect  fertilises  these 
advancing  stigmas,  nothing  more  is  required.  But, 
this  failing,  the  styles  curl  downward  like  the  ten- 
tacle of  a  minute  octopus,  curve  and  twist  around 
the  stamen-cluster,  absorb  pollen  from  them,  and 
are  fertilised. 

The  barberry,  whose  exquisite  mechanism  for 
cross-fertilisation  we  described  in  full,  is  not  too 
sensitive  and  shrinking  to  avoid  self-fertilisation. 
In  fact,  it  is  quite  capable  of  this  act,  for  the  stig- 
matic  surface  is  just  on  the  edge  of  the  cap  of  the 
pistil,  and  the  stamens  when  they  dry  and  curve 
forward  in  the  later  stages  of  the 
flower  are  just  long  enough  to  touch 
this  stigmatic  edge  with  any  pollen 
remaining. 

But  self-fertilisation  is  not  always 
merely  a  resource  and  a  forlorn  hope        BARBERRY 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS    179 

in  case  the  pollen-laden  Argosies  have  failed  to 
come  to  port. 

Several  of  the  Rose  family  are  regularly  self- 
fertilised — the  hardback  or  steeple-bush,  the  wild 
red  raspberry,  agrimony,  and  June-berry,  for  ex- 
ample. 

Though  the  Composite  family  has  developed  a 
clever  piston  arrangement  for  delivering  its  pollen, 
and  bidding  for  cross-fertilisation,  yet  the  follow- 
ing members  of  the  family  are  commonly  self- ferti- 
lised and  flourish  amazingly  upon  it:  The  star- 
wort,  asters,  common  daisy,  larger  daisy,  fleabane, 
larger  burr  marigold,  tall  sunflower,  ox-eye, 
cone-flower,  common  dandelion,  sow-thistle,  and 
others. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  Pulse  family,  in  whose 
flowers  the  stamens  and  pistils  are  closely  packed 
together  like  shipwrecked  mariners  in  a  life-boat, 
might  develop  their  stigmas  in  a  mass  of  home- 
made pollen,  if  that  were  not  removed.  This  may 
happen  in  the  beach  pea,  the  cow-vetch,  and  the 
peas  and  beans  of  the  garden.  Here  we  see  a  reason 
why  our  peas  and  beans  always  "come  true  to 
name,"  and  Mr.  Burbank  has  suceeded  in  creating 
new  varieties  only  by  artificially  crossing  their 
pollen. 

Whitlow  grass,  wood-anemone,  shepherd's-purse, 


180    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


the  St.  John's-worts,  Depford  pink,  and  smaller 
Solomon's  seal  are  generally,  but  not  always,  self- 
fertilised. 

The  smallest  flowering  plant  in  the  world,  the 
duckweed,  or  Lemna,  follows  the  same  plan,  and  is 
most  interesting  to  study  under  the  microscope. 
You  will  find  in  stagnant  pools  myriads  of  these 
tiny  plants,  forming  a  green  crust 
upon  the  surface.  The  plant,  con- 
sisting of  one  or  two  leaves,  about 
one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  length  and  a 
little  less  in  width,  floats  upon  the 
water,  sending  down  one  or  several 
threadlike  roots,  an  inch  long,  each 
terminated  with  a  pointed  sheath. 
The  plant  grows'  by  lateral  branch- 
ing, and  toward  autumn  the  leaves 
separate  from  each  other,  form  sepa- 
rate plants  and  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  pool,  to 
rise  again  in  the  spring,  larger  and  more  mature. 
In  the  summer  the  flowers,  such  as  they  are,  appear 
upon  the  surface  or  at  the  edge  of  the  plant.  They 
are  monoecious  flowers,  reduced  to  the  lowest  terms, 
for  they  consist  of  one  or  two  stamens  and  one 
pistil,  of  the  form  shown  in  the  sketch. 

These  organs  are  in  such  close  proximity  that 
they  fertilise  each  other,  and  produce  true  seeds. 


DUCKWEED 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS    181 

Now,  from  this  humblest  of  flowering  plants  we 
may  deduce  two  facts:  first,  self-fertilisation  has 
been  so  successful  that  the  duck-weed  survives,  and 
has  spread  out  all  over  the  world ;  second,  the  plant 
has  not  been  able  to  develop  and  raise  itself  to  a 
higher  form  of  life. 

F.  Ludwig  expresses  the  opinion  that  duckweed 
is  adapted  for  fertilisation  by  insects  which  live  on 
the  water,  and  undoubtedly  there  is  no  barrier  to 
prevent  it.  In  fact,  insects  may  occasionally  have 
crossed  the  pollen  of  some  plants  long  ago,  thus 
causing  slight  variations  which  are  classified  in  four 
distinct  species.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  the  duck- 
weed stands  as  an  example  of  what  self-fertilisation 
can  and  cannot  accomplish. 

So  far  as  we  know  there  is  but  one  plant  or 
flower  which  is  self- fertilised  by  an  insect:  namely, 
the  Spanish  bayonet — a  native  of  Mexico  but 
acclimatised  in  our  Northern  States. 

SPANISH  BAYONET — Yucca 
June-July 

This  is  a  very  handsome  and  decorative  plant, 
familiar  in  our  gardens.  From  a  thick  cluster  of 
stiff,  divergent  leaves,  each  armed  with  a  cruelly 
sharp  point,  rises  a  flower-spike  three  to  five  feet 
tall,  covered  with  ivory-white  blossoms  resembling 


182    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

tulips  in  form,  but  hanging  gracefully  downward. 
Each  flower  has  six  white  sepals  and  petals,  form- 
ing the  bell,  a  long  pistil  exactly  the  shape  of  a 
bottle  with  an  opening  down  through  the  neck 
leading  to  the  ovary  within,  and  six  stamens  set 
about  the  pistil,  but  all  of  them  much  too  short  to 
scatter  pollen  upon  its  tip,  nor  would  the  pollen 
take  effect  if  placed  there. 

It  is  the  exceptional  and  extraordinary  feature 
that  its  pollen  must  be  forced  down  the  neck  of  the 
bottle  and  into  the  ovary,  in  order  to  vivify  the 
ovules  within.  No  happy  accident  will  do  this; 
and  there  is  only  one  insect  that  will.  It  is  a  moth 
known  as  the  Pronuba  Yuccasella,  the  only  moth  I 
know  of  which  is  provided  with  a  pair  of  jaws  for 
the  work.  From  "The  Moth  Book"  I  copy  the 
following  description  of  the  creature  and  its  con- 
duct: 

"No  discovery  in  recent  years  has  been  more  in- 
teresting to  students  of  insect  and  plant  life  than 
that  which  was  made  in  1872  by  Professor  Riley, 
of  the  intimate  relationship  which  subsists  between 
the  beautiful  plant  known  as  Yucca,  and  the  genus 
of  moths  to  which  the  present  species  belongs.  It 
has  been  ascertained  that  the  fructification  of  the 
various  species  of  Yucca  is  almost  absolutely  de- 
pendent upon  the  agency  of  the  female  moth ;  and, 


THE  YUCCA  FLOWER  AND  ITS  MOTH 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS    183 


strangely  enough,  it  has  also  been  ascertained  that 
the  pollenation  of  the  flower  is  not  the  result  of 
accidental  attrition  of  the  wings  and  other  organs 
of  the  insect,  when  engaged  in  seeking  nectar  in 
the  flower,  and  when  engaged  in  laying  her  eggs, 
but  that  she  deliberately  collects  the  pollen  with 
her  mouth,  which  is  peculiarly  modified  to  enable 
her  to  do  this,  and  then  ap- 
plies the  pollen  to  the  stigma 
with  infinitely  better  care  than 
it  could  be  done  by  the  most 
skilful  horticulturist,  using  the 
most  delicate  human  appli- 
ances." 

The  moth  is  shown  in  our 
sketch  at  work  upon  the  sta- 
mens and  the  pistil.  Now, 
why  should  the  Pronuba  ex- 
ert herself  thus,  to  do  a  good 
turn  for  the  Yucca?  Where 
is  the  reciprocity  in  the  trans-  YUCCA  AND  MOTH 

action?  When  we  are  able  to  watch  the  whole 
transaction  we  will  see  that  the  moth  not  only 
pushes  pollen  into  the  upper  part  of  the  pistil,  but 
proceeds  to  bore  a  hole  into  the  lower  part  and 
lay  her  eggs  there.  In  due  time  seeds  will  form 
and  eggs  will  hatch,  and  the  little  larvae  find  food 


184    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

in  the  capsule  just  suited  to  their  taste,  till  they 
grow  large  enough  and  strong  enough  to  go  forth 
and  burrow  into  the  ground. 

It  is,  then,  to  make  a  home  and  provide  food  for 
her  babies  that  the  moth  fertilises  the  Yucca.  Where 
there  is  no  Yucca  Moth  there  are  no  Yucca  seeds 
formed.  In  Mexico  and  other  regions  where  the 
Yucca  is  indigenous,  the  Pronuba  Yuccasella  also  is 
found.  In  our  northern  region,  till  recently,  there 
were  no  moths  and  consequently  no  seeds  were  set. 
I  read  in  Mr.  Gibson's  "Notes"  of  twenty  years  ago 
that  the  Pronuba  had  not  yet  arrived  in  Washing- 
ton, Connecticut,  and  Yucca  plants  then  bore  no 
seeds.  But  since  then  the  moth  has  evidently  come 
hither,  for  in  1913  I  found  a  Yucca  plant  near  my 
home  bearing  many  seed-capsules,  and  to  test 
their  fertility  I  planted  a  handful  of  their  seeds 
and  thus  have  reared  a  sturdy  little  colony  of 
Yucca  plants,  the  first  of  their  kind  here  grown 
from  seed. 

The  interdependence  of  flower  and  moth,  this 
altruism  more  than  human,  so  exceptional,  suggests 
a  path  of  investigation  well  worth  following.  The 
relations  of  all  insects  to  all  plants  have  not  yet 
been  investigated.  We  have  been  fortunate  enough 
to  learn  of  a  pair  which  depends  for  life,  each  upon 
the  other.  There  may  be,  and  probably  are,  other 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS     185 


similar  cases  which  will  be  disclosed  to  the  close 
and  sympathetic  observer. 

The  subject  of  self -fertilisation  would  not  be 
complete  without  reference  to  those  flowers  which 
grow  expressly  to  fertilise  themselves.  There  are 
certain  plants  so  determined  to  survive,  so  doubtful 
of  the  capacity  of  their  beautiful  blossoms  to  carry 
along  their  life  history,  that  they  produce  also  other 
flowers  of  a  different  sort — "resource  flowers,"  or 
cleistogamous  flowers,  they  are  called. 

After  your  sweet  violets  have  ceased  to  bloom, 
in  July  or  August,  dig 
up  a  plant  and  you  will 
find  odd,  colourless,  form- 
less flowers  and  seed 
vessels,  just  above  the 
ground.  The  little  buds 
have  never  opened,  but 
the  stigmas  have  been 
fertilised  and  have  filled 
the  capsules  with  count- 
less seeds.  A  flower  and 
its  section  are  shown  in 
the  sketch. 

Try  uprooting  other 
plants  in  Nature's  gar- 
den and,  now  and  again,  VIOLET 


186    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


you  will  discover  resource 
flowers  like  those  of  the 
violet.  You  will  find  them 
on  the  Polygala,  jewel- 
weed,  wood  -  sorrel,  wild 
bean,  frost-weed,  Venus's 
looking-glass,  and  Whitlow 
grass.  But  all  the  cleistog- 
amous  flowers  are  not  sub- 
terranean. 

The  Dalbardia  is  said  to 
fertilise  itself  in  the  bud 
before  opening. 

Near  my  gate,  under 
the  beech-trees,  is  a  patch 
of  the  beech-drops,  bearing  short  spikes  of  flowers 
that  bloom  and  make  no  seeds.  Below  them  are 
numerous  closed  and  altogether  ugly  flowers  which 
make  the  seeds.  Why  the  pretty  ones  should  be 
idle,  and  the  plain  ones  do  all  the  work,  I  cannot 
tell,  but  philosophers  in  human  affairs  have  often 
asked  the  same  question. 


POLYGALA 


In  the  foregoing  pages  we  have  so  fully  investi- 
gated the  mechanism  of  the  flowers,  and  learned 
so  many  of  their  ways  and  means  for  interchang- 


SELF-FERTILISED  FLOWERS    187 


ing  pollen,  that  the  student 
will  be  equipped  to  carry  for- 
ward his  investigations  along 
the  same  lines  on  his  own 
account — play  the  Sherlock 
Holmes  to  the  lilies  and  the 
orchids,  and  exchange  the  old 
botany  for  the  new.  And  I 
promise  that  the  new  line  of 
work  will  be  so  enthralling 
that  there  will  be  no  more  of 
the  analysing,  classifying,  and 
filing  away  of  dead,  dry  speci- 
mens, but  a  pursuit  afield  of 
vital  facts  in  the  life  history 
of  flowers  and  their  affinities, 
to  "catch  the  manners,  living, 
as  they  rise." 


BEECH-DROPS 


hich 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT 

UT  we  have  not  yet  solved 
all  the  mysteries  of  the 
flowers,  for  we  shall  find 
many   odd   contrivances 
and   bewildering   habits 
are    explicable   only   as 
accessory  to  the  great,  central 
purpose    of    cross-fertilisation. 
And   we    have    not    yet    fully 
examined     the    various     lures 
whereby    the    flowers     attract 
their  insect  guests.     Nor  have 
we  discovered  in  what  manner 
the  pollen  conveys  to  the  pas- 
sive ovule  that  electric  impulse 
which  shall  endow  it  with  life. 

The  student  has  by  this  time  surely  come  to  look 

188 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT    189 

upon  our  cherished  wild  flowers  as  living  creatures 
with  almost  human  attributes.  Their  undaunted 
courage  and  determination  to  live  in  spite  of  ad- 
verse conditions,  and  their  ingenious  devices  for 
foiling  their  enemies,  teach  a  noble  lesson. 

Plants  have  first  to  make  a  place  for  themselves 
and  reach  out  for  light,  air  and  nourishment.  Then 
they  have  to  foil  the  attacks  of  predatory  creatures. 
It  is  little  short  of  amazing  that  such  soft  and  tender 
things  can  wage  war  or  evolve  defences  against 
aphis,  beetles,  rodents,  birds,  cattle,  and  man;  and 
the  methods  employed  by  the  plants  for  self- 
defence  are  well  worth  studying. 

THORNS  AND  PRICKLES 

To  ward  off  the  attacks  of  huge  browsing  beasts, 
the  plants,  trees  and  shrubs  arm  themselves  with 
thorns  and  prickles,  as  we  see  in  hawthorns  and 
some  wild  apple-trees.  Especially  on  desert  places, 
where  vegetation  is  sparse,  such  defence  is  neces- 
sary to  survive,  and  in  such  regions  the  plants  are 
thickly  covered  with  cruel  spines.  The  various 
cacti  are  so  defended,  and  the  Spanish  dagger  has 
fierce  darts  at  the  tip  of  each  leaf.  In  the  New 
York  Museum  of  Natural  History  is  an  exhibit 
showing  this  desert  vegetation,  with  all  its  array 
of  bristling  weapons;  and  our  illustration  of  a 


190  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

Turk's-cap  cactus,  brought  from  the  Mexican  bor- 
der by  Major  Foulois  of  the  U.  S.  A.  Flying  Corps, 
will  show  the  reader  how  invulnerable  a  plant  may 
make  itself. 

Just  as  defenceless  civilians  may  take  refuge 
among  an  armed  band  of  soldiery,  so  do  defenceless 
plants  seek  safety  among  their  thorny  and  prickly 
kindred,  and  we  find  thickets  and  hedgerows  made 
up  of  a  tangled  mass  of  hawthorns,  brambles,  and 
wild  roses,  interspersed  with  every  kind  of  soft  and 
tender  plant  and  climbing  vine.  But  there  are 
defences  less  conspicuous  than  thorns,  yet  no  less 
potent.  Plants  like  hardback,  ironweed  and  ver- 
vain build  up  woody  fibre  which  makes  them  in- 
edible, and  strike  deep  roots  to  hold  them  against 
removal.  The  laurel  has  the  woody  fibre,  and  also 
distils  poisonous  juices  into  its  leaves  as  an  addi- 
tional protection.  The  Equisetum  stores  up  parti- 
cles of  silica  in  its  tissues,  and  hence  becomes  quite 
indigestible. 

Then,  to  ward  off  the  smaller  pests  which  creep 
and  crawl,  the  plants  clothe  themselves  in  hairy 
raiment,  or  besmear  their  stems  with  sticky  cos- 
metics till  ants  and  beetles,  slugs  and  caterpillars, 
are  held  at  bay.  Water  is  a  sure  barrier  against 
such  enemies,  as  some  plants  seem  to  know.  There 
are  plants  which,  when  growing  on  land,  have  rough 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT     191 

defences,  yet,  when  standing  in  shal- 
low water,  out  of  reach,  will  develop 
smooth  stems. 

The  teasel  thrusts  its  stem  through 
the  united  bases  of  its  leaves,  as  I 
sometimes  jab  my  pencil  through  a 
sheet  of  paper.  The  leaves  thus  form 
a  cistern  to  catch  and  hold  the  rain- 
drops in  a  pool  around  the  stem  so 
that  no  creature  can  climb  upward 
and  devour  the  flower. 

Though  the  ant  is  often  a  ruinous 
visitor,  he  is  not  always  to  be  dreaded. 
In  fact,  since  he  is  notoriously  car- 
nivorous, he  actually  serves  the  plants 
many  times  by  destroying  battalions 
of  their  worst  enemies.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  the  dwellers  in  a  single  TEASEL 

ant-hill  devour  100,000  plant-pests  in  a  single  day. 
The  Chinese  know  the  value  of  these  little  allies 
and,  in  the  Province  of  Canton,  the  orange-growers 
place  ant-nests  in  the  orange-trees,  with  bamboo 
poles  from  tree  to  tree  for  the  ants  to  use  as  bridges. 

The  plants  are  as  wise,  for  certain  thistles  exude 
a  sugary  liquid  outside  their  buds  to  attract  ants, 
and  these  defend  the  citadel  from  beetles.  An 
Acacia  of  one  variety  bears  hollow  thorns  for  little 


192     MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

houses  in  which  ants  are  happy  to  dwell — a  garri- 
son always  on  the  alert.  In  Guiana  the  orchids  are 
especially  liable  to  attack,  and  some  of  them  form 
veritable  barracks  of  their  roots  for  an  army  of  ants 
to  occupy.  There  are  as  many  plant  defences  as 
there  are  locks  and  safety-contrivances,  guns  and 
fortifications,  all  to  prolong  life  and  make  blooming 
and  seed-bearing  possible,  but  there  are  special  safe- 
guards to  protect  the  nectar  and  pollen. 

BURGLAR   INSURANCE 

Besides  crawling  things,  which  may  be  stopped 
by  bristly  stem  or  calyx,  there  are  unwelcome  guests 
who  arrive  on  the  wing,  and  these  are  often  balked 
by  a  closed  corolla,  as  we  see  in  the  snap-dragon  and 
closed  gentian  of  our  coloured  plate,  which  are 
accessible  only  to  the  bee.  Again,  some  flowers 
serve  their  nectar  in  shallow  cups  from  which  short- 
tongued  insects,  only,  can  sip,  whilst  others  conceal 
their  sweets  in  deep  and  narrow  nectaries,  accessible 
to  none  but  the  long,  prehensile  tongues  of  moths 
and  butterflies 

RAIN  SHELTERS 

While  rain  is  most  useful  and  necessary  to  the 
growth  of  the  plant,  it  is  most  harmful  to  the  nectar 


HONEY  GUIDES  AND  RAIN  SHELTERS 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT     193 

and  pollen.  Accordingly,  flowers  take  great  pre- 
cautions to  protect  their  stores  from  rain-fall.  The 
arching  hoods  of  the  sage,  gladiolus  and  Jack-in- 
the-Pulpit  are  one  means  to  this  end.  Many  flowers 
close,  others  droop,  to  shed  the  rain.  But  I  was  at 
a  loss  to  understand  how  erect,  saucer-shaped  flow- 
ers like  the  phlox— veritable  funnels — could  keep 
dry  in  spite  of  rain,  till  I  inspected  my  flower-bor- 
der after  a  shower  and  found  on  the  phlox  blos- 
soms little  pearly  drops  reposing  like  crystal  spheres 
at  the  openings  of  the  nectar  wells.  The  tubes 
were  so  small  as  to  be  capillary,  and  thus  excluded 
the  drops.  I  have  shown  one  such  floret  in  the 
colour  plate.  The  pitcher-plant  flower,  which 
covers  its  pollen  with  a  little  green  umbrella,  is  also 
depicted. 

LURES  OF  FLOWERS 

But  when  the  flower  has  developed,  the  feast  is 
spread,  and  the  banquet-hall  is  thrown  open,  the 
desirable  guests  are  bidden  and  cordially  welcomed. 
Gay-coloured  banners  and  penetrating  perfumes 
announce  the  invitation;  rich,  soft  carpets  unroll 
upon  the  doorstep,  and  strongly  accentuated  posters 
indicate  the  exact  entrance.  These  are  known  as 
honey-guides,  and  consist  of  streaks  and  blotches 


194    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

of  gayest  colours  such  as  we  see  on  the  petals  of  the 
nasturtium  and  the  pansy,  or  in  the  throat  of  the 
gladiolus.  They  correspond  to  the  bull's-eye  of  the 
target,  or  the  little  red  heart  embroidered  upon  the 
sweater  which  swordsmen  wear  in  tournaments  of 
fencing. 

Much  has  been  written  about  protective  colouring 
among  birds  and  animals,  which  melts  their  plum- 
age or  fur  into  their  surroundings  and  cloaks  them 
with  a  mantle  of  invisibility.  Now,  colouration 
among  the  flowers  is  just  the  reverse  of  protective. 
It  is  as  a  trumpet-call  to  attract  attention  to  them, 
and  to  bring  faithful  insects  to  do  their  bidding. 
For  a  brief  season  flowers  strive  to  be  as  conspicu- 
ous as  they  can,  and  to  outshine  their  neighbours  and 
their  rivals. 

Just  how  much  the  colour  of  flowers  serves  as 
lures  to  the  insects,  we  do  not  know  with  precision. 
Darwin,  Miiller  and  Lubbock  believed  it  to  be  very 
potent,  and  took  great  pains  to  classify  insects  ac- 
cording to  their  apparent  preferences  for  one  colour 
or  another.  But  other  writers  doubt  the  efficacy 
of  colour  as  a  lure.  Gaston  Bonnier  has  published 
numerous  experiments  which  seem  to  contradict  the 
belief  in  the  attraction  colour  exerts  upon  insects. 
It  is  likely  that  the  truth  lies  somewhere  between 
these  two  extremes.  Insects  may  be  more  or  less 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT     195 

colour-blind  to  certain  colours,  and  hence  visit  only 
flowers  which  they  see  as  brilliant  ones.  Lubbock 
experimented  with  dabs  of  honey  on  strips  of  glass 
over  papers  of  various  colours.  By  shifting  the 
honey  and  glasses  about  over  the  papers,  he  appar- 
ently demonstrated  that  the  honey-bee  preferred 
to  alight  upon  the  honey  which  was  over  a  blue 
paper. 

Kerner  tells  of  observing  a  similar  preference  on 
the  part  of  bees.  In  the  Botanical  Gardens  of 
Vienna  were  two  bushes  of  the  Monarda  in  full 
bloom — the  fistulosa  and  the  didyma.  The  former, 
being  of  a  purplish-red,  received  all  the  visits  of  the 
bees,  whilst  the  latter,  of  a  scarlet-red,  was  shunned, 
or  at  least  neglected. 

It  is  certain  that  the  night-moths  and  other  noc- 
turnal insects  see  by  night  better  than  we  do.  Our 
day  is  their  night ;  our  night  is  their  day.  For  them 
the  greater  part  of  the  white  flowers  bloom.  Yet 
they  can  doubtless  see  colours  well  at  night,  for 
many  moths,  on  spreading  their  wings,  unfold 
gorgeous  under-wings  with  which  to  attract  and 
fascinate  their  mates. 

Now  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  brightly  coloured 
butterflies  frequent  the  gayest  flowers,  often  choos- 
ing those  whose  colour  corresponds,  or  at  least  har- 
monises, with  their  own.  Why  is  this?  The  ex- 


196  MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

planation  is  that  these  butterflies  seek  and  prefer 
a  mate  with  brightly  coloured  wings,  and  the  same 
colour-sense  leads  him  to  visit,  by  preference,  flow- 
ers which  are  equally  resplendent.  Our  colour 
plates  of  the  flame  azalea  and  the  butterfly-weed 
were  painted  to  show  two  of  our  butterflies  visiting 
favourite  flowers. 

INSECTS  AND  THEIR  FAVOURITE  COLOURS 

If  insects  are  necessary  to  the  flowers,  the  flowers 
are  no  less  essential  to  the  insects,  for  the  pollen 
they  shed  and  the  nectar  they  secrete  are  the  normal 
food  for  most  beetles,  bees,  moths  and  butterflies. 
There  was  a  time  in  past  ages  when  no  flowers 
bloomed  and,  also,  no  bees  nor  butterflies  were  on 
the  wing,  and,  strange  to  say,  when  the  former  ap- 
peared the  latter  also  came  into  existence.  Such 
is  the  record  written  in  the  rocks,  and  deciphered 
by  scientists  wise  in  those  hidden  mysteries.  Be- 
ginning with  flowers  of  simple  forms  and  perhaps 
colourless  and  scentless,  the  scientists  have  traced 
a  progression  upward  through  stages  of  growing 
complexity  and  increasing  opulence,  and,  parallel 
with  the  flowers,  they  have  traced  an  upward  scale 
of  insect-life  from  blundering  beetles,  dull  in  colour 
as  in  intelligence,  through  many  forms  ending  with 
the  frail  butterflies,  sensitive  and  resplendent. 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT    197 

The  development  in  the  flowers  is  well  illustrated 
by  the  gentians.  An  Alpine  gentian,  the  lutea,  is 
a  primitive  type  which  has  survived.  It  has  a  yel- 
low colour  and  a  fully  open  flower,  with  almost  free 
access  to  its  nectar.  Various  insects  could  enter 
and  sip,  and  they  performed  cross-fertilisation 
casually  and  irregularly.  The  form  was  modified 
in  such  a  way  that  bees,  especially  bumblebees,  be- 
come the  most  efficient  bearers  of  the  pollen.  To 
suit  the  bees,  then,  the  bell-shaped  flower  was 
evolved  and  the  colour  modified  to  blue  to  serve  as 
a  special  attraction.  Thus  has  our  beautiful  gentian 
fashioned  its  festal  attire  to  please  its  guests. 

Beetles,  the  lowest  in  the  scale  in  regard  to  the 
power  and  adaptability  for  cross-fertilisation,  visit 
flowers  of  dark,  dull  red  and  violet.  They  seem  to 
avoid  yellow  flowers.  Flies  frequent  yellow  flowers. 
Honey-bees  and  bumblebees  have  a  special  liking 
for  blue  flowers  and  generally  pass  by  the  scarlet 
ones  without  visiting  them.  Butterflies  and  moths 
are  the  most  highly  specialised  insects  for  the  work 
of  cross-fertilisation,  and  they  display  marked  in- 
telligence and  a  keen  sense  of  appreciation  for  bril- 
liant colours.  But  the  bees  do  much  more  of  the 
actual  work,  from  the  fact  that  they  carry  away 
loads  of  pollen  with  which  to  feed  their  young,  and 
in  so  doing  incidentally  interchange  pollen  amongst 
the  flowers. 


198    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


Salvla  Uglinosa 


Hedge   Rind 
Weed 


POLLEN 

Pollen  is  not  all 
alike.  That  from  dif- 
ferent plants  differs 

Cup    and    Saucer       Passion    Flower     mucjj  m  gjze    form    and 

consistency.  Grains 
from  the  Marvel  of 
Peru  measure  .22  mil- 
limetres, whilst  those 
of  the  forget-me-not 
are  only  .0025  milli- 
metres in  diameter. 
Under  the  microscope 
they  exhibit  most  as- 
tonishing diversity  of 
form.  As  a  rule  they 
are  spherical  or  sphe- 
roidal, that  is,  elon- 
gated like  footballs. 
The  pollen-grains  of 
some  plants  are  cubi- 
cal, and  of  others,  do- 
decahedrons. The  pollen  intended  to  be  carried 
by  the  wind  has  usually  smooth  grains,  whilst  those 
destined  to  cling  to  insects  bear  points,  spines,  and 
prickles,  or  else  are  bedaubed  with  a  sticky  and 
adhesive  coating  known  as  "viscin." 


Morena   Persica         Musk  Flower 
VARIOUS    POLLEN    GRAINS 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT     199 


Our  first  sketch,  borrowed 
from  Kerner,  shows  some  of  the 
odd  and  diverse  shapes.  The 
viscin  acts  as  a  sort  of  bird-lime 
to  fasten  the  pollen  on  the  in- 
sect; but  sometimes  it  is  pulled 
out  in  long,  slender  threads,  like 
spider-webs,  to  entangle  the  in- 
sect in  its  meshes.  This  happens 
in  the  case  of  the  Rhododendron 
hirsutum,  the  evening-primrose, 
and  the  fire-weed.  Our  second 
sketch  shows  groups  of  pollen- 
grains  thus  joined  by  filaments 
into  a  tangled  net  to  ensnare  the 
unwary  visitor.  All  pollen- 
grains  are  hollow  cases  contain- 
ing fluid  and  living  germ-cells. 
They  have  a  certain  independent 
life  of  their  own,  and  a  power 
of  spontaneous  growth,  as  if 
they  were  seeds  in  their  own 
right.  By  experiments,  the  pol- 
len of  some  flowers  has  been 
found  to  live  three  days,  that  of 
others  seventy-six.  Pollen  of 

.  .  .  POLLEN  GRAINS  AND 

palms  and  cycads  if  kept  dry          FILAMENTS 


200    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

may  be  sent  long  journeys  to  fertilise  flowers  in 
distant  countries.  The  Arabs  save  some  from  their 
date-palms  from  year  to  year  to  dust  the  new  crop 
of  flowers  and  insure  the  very  necessary  supply  of 
dates.  There  is  a  legend  that  pollen  of  dates,  hemp 
and  maize  has  kept  its  vitalising  power  over  a  space 
of  eighteen  years. 

But  what  happens  after  the  pollen  reaches  the 
stigma  of  a  flower?  By  what  mysterious  impulse 
is  the  thrill  of  life  conveyed  from  the  grain,  down 
through  the  tissues  of  the  long  style,  to  vivify  the 
soft  and  inert  mass  of  the  little  ovule  ?  Very  clever 
observation  and  manipulation  under  the  microscope 
has  revealed  this  mystery. 

Upon  each  stigma  is  a  certain  amount  of  mois- 
ture, which  softens  the  shell  of  the  pollen  grain. 
It  expands  and  germinates,  putting  forth  a  growth 
called     a     pollen-tube,     which 
strikes  root  in  the  soft  fibres  of 
the  stigma  and  forces  its  way 
downward   through   the    style. 
It  grows  at  the  expense  of  the 
tissues  of  the  pistil,  like  a  para- 
site plant.  Reaching  the  ovary, 
where  the  little  ovules  are  wait- 
ing,   the    pollen-tube    usually 
follows  the  outer  wall,  as  grop- 
FERTILISATION  OF  FLOWER   ing  in  the  dark  it  reaches  down- 


EFFORT  AND  ACCOMPLISHMENT    201 

ward,  around,  and  upward,  till,  with  unerring  aim, 
it  strikes  a  little  opening  in  the  ovary,  called  the 
micropyle,  or  little  door,  and  enters  there.  Com- 
munication thus  being  established  between  the  pol- 
len-grain above  and  the  ovule  below,  the  vital  cells 
contained  in  the  former  flow  down  the  slender 
pollen-tube,  enter  the  ovule  and  give  it  the  touch 
of  life  which  it  requires.  This  last  step  of  the 
journey  is  now  correctly  termed  "fertilisation," 
and  all  of  our  previous  explanations  and  descrip- 
tions had  but  to  do  with  the  pollination.  The 
ovule,  now  vitalised,  divides  its  cell  tissues  into 
one  or  more  nuclei,  and  sets  apart  a  portion 
for  a  food  reserve  with  which  to  nourish  the 
future  plant.  At  this  stage  the  pollen  may  dry, 
and  the  flower  may  fade,  but  the  ovule  will  pro- 
ceed to  develop  into  a  seed,  with  all  its  hope  and 
promise  of  a  new  life. 

Ordinarily,  the  pollen-tube  has  to 
traverse  a  considerable  distance  through 
the  length  of  a  stigma,  more  or  less 
elongated,  but,  in  the  case  of  the  gym- 
nosperms,  as  we  have  already  explained, 
the  pollen-grain  alights  directly  at  the 
opening  of  the  ovule,  is  caught  there 
by  a  drop  of  moisture,  and  is  drawn 

FERTILISATION     ...'.,  .  .  ...   . 

OF  PINE        into  the  opening  and  germinates  within, 


202    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

sending  a  very  short  pollen-tube  into  the  interior 
cell-structure.  The  opposite  extreme  of  a  pistil 
enormously  elongated  is  to  be  seen  in  the  case  of 
the  corn  represented  on  page  170.  The  corn- 
silk  is  but  a  vast  number  of  greatly  elongated 
styles.  Each  strand  of  silk  starts  from  its  own 
particular  ovule,  reaches  up  to  the  apex  of  the  cob 
and  emerges  in  the  tassel.  Pollen-grains  falling 
upon  the  terminal  stigma  must  send  their  slender 
pollen-tubes  and  vital  cells  down  the  whole  length 
of  the  slender  strand  of  silk  and  reach  the  ovary; 
otherwise,  no  kernel  of  corn  will  be  formed.  The 
marvel  of  this  performance  and  of  its  myriad  repe- 
titions needs  no  emphasis  nor  comment. 


CHAPTER  IX 

SEED  SOWING 

UR    wild    flowers    have 
grown,      bloomed,      and 
made    their    seeds;    but 
their  work  is  not  yet  fin- 
ished,  and  we  have  not 
yet  done  with  the  mys- 
teries of  their  lives. 
In  writing  of  seed-making, 
we  have  shown  that  the  strug- 
gle for  a  living,  and  the  at- 
tracting of  insect  visitors,  is 
a  serious  and  strenuous  busi- 
ness; but  when  seeds  are  ripe 
to  be  sown  it   seems  that  a 
leisure  time  has  arrived,   when 
our  plants  may  indulge  in  vari- 
ous sports,  much  like  the  recrea- 

203 


DAN 


204    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

tions  of  our  Leisure  Class.  Swimming,  diving, 
motoring,  flying,  shooting,  travelling,  are  some  of 
those  in  which  the  plants  and  their  seeds  indulge. 
Let  us  examine  the  playful  and  boisterous  man- 
ners of  seed-sowing  that  have  planted  a  whole  con- 
tinent. We  know,  of  course,  that  the  ripened  seeds 
might  fall  close  about  the  roots  of  the  parent  plant, 
and  grow  in  a  thick  mat  of  a  foot  or  so  in  diameter 
where  they  fell.  But  the  many  seedlings  would 
crowd  and  starve  one  another,  any  small  local  acci- 
dent would  exterminate  them  all,  and  any  narrow 
barrier  of  rock  or  water  or  unfavourable  soil  would 
completely  bar  their  spreading  into  new  regions. 
We  know  that  plants  have  travelled  far,  for  many 
introduced  from  Europe — such  as  the  daisies — have 
swept  over  fields  and  mountains  to  the  prairies  of 
the  Middle  West,  where  they  are  now  waging  a 
border  warfare  with  native  plants  there.  Suppos- 
ing that  they  had  come  over  with  the  Pilgrims, 
and  had  started  their  migration  from  the  famous 
Plymouth  Rock.  Spreading  landward  at  the  rate 
of  a  foot  a  year,  the  farthest  limits  of  their  progress 
would  scarcely  have  reached  three  hundred  feet 
from  the  starting-point.  If  a  million  years  had 
elapsed  since  their  coming,  the  same  slow  means 
of  travel  would  but  have  carried  them  about  one 
hundred  and  ninety  miles. 


SEED  SOWING 


205 


There  evidently  must  be  other  more  efficient 
means  for  scattering  seeds  than  shaking  them  out 
of  the  seed-pods  upon  the  ground  near  by.  Let  us 
examine  some  of  these  mysterious  methods. 


PEPPER-BOX  SEEDS 

In  the  sketch  is  shown  the  dried  seed-pod  of  a 
poppy,  like  a  pepper-box  on  a  tall,  stiff  stalk.  Now, 
to  get  the  pepper  for  our  meat  we  have  to  invert 
and  shake  the  box.  How  do  the  loose  seeds  get 
out  of  theirs?  Pull  the  pod  a  little  and  then  let  it 
spring  away,  and  you  will  hear  the  seeds  scatter 
a  long  way  in  every  direction.  But  the  wind  is 
/..',;.;•'•.  able  to  sway  these  pods  back  and 

forth,  and,  catching  the  seeds, 
bear  them  far  and  scatter  them 
well. 

We  can  find  a  great  many  of 
:'•':.    these  "pepper-box"  plants  in  ac- 
tion, such  as  the  monkshood,  col- 
..'.   umbine,   larkspur,    Jimson-weed. 
The   lilies    and   the    Indian-pipe 
belong  to  this  class,  but  they  have 
this  peculiarity,  that,  even  though 
their  corollas  may  turn  modestly 
downward   while   in  bloom,   yet 


206    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


INDIAN-PIPE 


they  turn  their  dry  seed-pods 
straight  up  into  the  air.  This 
is  to  prevent  a  sudden  dis- 
charge of  the  seeds  all  at  once 
and  to  make  sure  to  shake  them 
out  in  small  quantities  when 
the  breezes  come  along.  This 
change  in  the  Indian-pipe  from 
a  drooping  and  white  flower  to 
a  brown  and  erect  seed-pod 
having  the  form  of  a  little 
brown  jug  is  so  great  a  trans- 
formation as  quite  to  disguise  the  plant  and  per- 
haps to  make  us  imagine  that  we  have  found  a 
new  species  altogether. 

Seeds  must  generally  be  kept  carefully  dry  till 
they  are  sown;  hence  the  corrugated  roof  of  the 
poppy  box,  above  described.  But  the  lady's  slipper 
pod,  which  also  is  a  "pepper-box,"  holds  its  seeds 
tight  and  dry  during  moist 
weather  but  on  sunny  and  windy 
days  opens  through  slits  up  and 
down  its  length  and  shakes  out 
its  fine  contents.  The  sketch 
shows  such  a  pod,  externally  and 
in  cross-section,  with  long,  nar- 
row lids  which  open  or  close  over  LADY'S  SLIPPER 


SEED  SOWING  207 

the    openings,    in    response    to    the    changes    of 
weather. 


AIR  GLIDERS 

No  one  knows  how  long  ago  ambitious  navigators 
learned  to  hitch  their  frail  barques  to  the  sea  breeze 
to  carry  their  cargoes,  but  it  is  certain  that  in  very 
early  ages  the  pines  and  other  tall  trees  learned  to 
take  advantage  of  the  wind  in  like  manner,  as  a 
means  of  spreading  their  seeds.  So  each  seed  was 
built  like  a  biplane,  or  air  glider, 
as  we  have  seen  in  a  previous 
chapter.  A  seed  of  the  pine,  with 
its  small  sail,  was  represented  in 
our  sketch  on  page  166.  That  of  the  maple,  much 
larger  and  very  familiar,  is  shown  here.  We  have 
all  seen  them  floating  down  from  maple-trees,  and 
twirling  as  they  slowly  fell.  The  lightest  breeze 
can  carry  them  a  long  way  ere  they  reach  the 
ground.  We  find  similar  seed-sowing  practised  by 
the  elm,  ash,  birch,  hornbeam,  linden  and  catalpa. 

AIRSHIP  SEEDS 

But  these  gliders  are  comparatively  heavy  seeds. 
There  are  many  others  far  lighter  for  their  dis- 


208    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

placement,  which  become  veritable  airships.  We 
can  scarcely  imagine  a  thing  lighter  than  thistle- 
down, or  its  like  among  the  seeds.  Our  sketch  at 
the  beginning  of  this  chapter  shows  seed  vessels 
and  seeds  of  the  clematis,  milkweed,  fire-weed,  and 
dandelion. 

Boys  who  fly  kites  know  full  well  that  the  wind, 
blowing  over  uneven  ground,  does  not  travel  in  a 
horizontal  plane  but  rises  at  every  slope,  sweeps 
up  over  every  hedge  or  obstruction,  and  thus  can 
easily  pick  up  and  whirl  away  these  little,  feathery 
seeds  and  scatter  them  over  a  whole  county.  Most 
of  these  very  light  seeds,  it  will  be  noted,  grow  upon 
herbs  near  the  ground. 


TUMBLE  WEEDS 


SEED  SOWING  209 

TUMBLE    WEEDS 

But  the  wind  furnishes  power  to  scatter  seeds  of 
some  plants  in  another  odd  and  remarkable  fashion. 
Certain  plants,  known  as  tumble  weeds,  on  matur- 
ing dry  up  and  break  loose  from  their  roots.  They 
then  travel  over  the  ground  like  automobiles,  driven 
by  the  wind.  As  they  go,  they  scatter  their  seeds 
all  along  their  paths.  The  best  known  of  these 
plants  is  the  tumble  weed  (Amarantus  graecizans) 
of  the  Middle  West,  a  sketch  of  which  is  shown 
here.  It  is  said  to  be  most  fantastic,  the  action  of 
a  whole  field  full  of  these  weeds,  how  they  all  scurry 
in  one  direction,  lodge  under  the  windward  side 
of  a  fence,  then  suddenly  leap  the  barrier  like  a 
flock  of  scared  sheep  following  a  leader,  or  fleeing 
from  some  imaginary  danger. 

The  Amarantus  biltoides,  a  near  kin  to  the 
tumble  weed,  though  chiefly  to  be  found  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  occurs  occasionally  beside  railway 
lines  in  the  East,  having 
come  in  with  the  railroad 
ballast,  which  goes  to  prove 
that  our  plants  take  advan- 
tage of  the  most  improved 
methods  for  shipping  their 
seeds.  QUEEN  ANNE'S  LACE 


210    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

Queen  Anne's  lace,  or  wild  carrot,  converts  its 
dried  flower-head  into  a  kind  of  tumble  weed.  As 
the  seeds  ripen  you  will  notice  that  the  flower- 
cluster,  originally  a  beautiful,  flat  cyme,  curls  in- 
ward, and  looks  like  a  bird's  nest,  full  of  seeds. 
Sometimes  closing  tightly  into  a  ball,  it  eventually 
breaks  from  the  parent  stem,  and,  in  winter,  goes 
rolling  and  gliding  over  the  snow.  As  it  travels 
thus,  the  seeds  are  shaken  out  as  from  a  loose  basket 
and  are  distributed  over  fields  and  pastures,  where 
they  cause  no  end  of  trouble  to  the  farmers. 

There  are  other  less  conspicuous  tumble  weeds, 
such  as  the  Rose  of  Jericho,  the  Russian  thistle, 
tickle-grass,  and  peppergrass  (Lepedium),  some  of 
which  may  be  found  in  our  locality. 

But  while  the  wind  can  carry  its  burthen  fast 
and  far,  much  of  its  cargo  is  wasted.  As  in  the 
Parable  of  the  Sower,  many  of  the  seeds  thus  trans- 
ported fall  into  unfavourable  situations,  and  come 
to  nought.  Water  traffic  is  a  slower  but  surer 
means  of  carriage. 

SEEDS  CARRIED  BY  WATER 

Seeds  that  grow  beside  the  river's  brink,  and 
fall  into  its  tide,  will  be  carried  to  other  shores 
where  their  environment  will  be  favourable.  No 


SEED  SOWING  211 

one  can  tell  what  myriads  of  moisture-loving  plants 
are  thus  spread  along  our  river  shores.  I  have 
found  seeds  of  the  skunk  cabbage  bobbing  and 
floating  with  the  current;  marsh  marigold  and  car- 
dinal flower  doubtless  follow  the  same  road;  and 
the  bladderwort  and  pondweeds  break  off  their 
buds  and  shoots  and  send  them  floating  away,  just 
as  we  send  cuttings  of  our  own  plants  to  be  sprouted 
by  distant  friends. 


The  rain,  also,  helps  in  seed  dispersal,  especially 
in  the  case  of  the  yellow  stonecrop,  which  it  thus 
plants  in  the  deep  crannies  of  rocks.  The  Veronica 
also  avoids  wind  dispersal  of  its  seeds  by  keeping 
its  capsule  closed  till  a  shower  comes.  Then  they 
are  shed,  and  are  carried  by  trickling  rills  of  rain 
to  low,  moist  places  such  as  they  require. 


212    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

But  all  seeds  will  not  swim.  Some  are  made  to 
dive.  An  interesting  instance  of  these  diving  seeds 
occurs  in  the  wrild  rice.  Beside  my  pond  I  planted 
some  as  an  ornament,  and  it  flourished  and  increased 
enormously,  but  never  spread  downstream,  as  I 
expected  it  to  do.  Here  was  a  mystery  which 
ultimately  explained  itself.  One  day,  when  I  acci- 
dentally jostled  a  stalk  of  the  plant,  shaking  off  a 
swarm  of  ripe  seeds,  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  them  fell 
into  the  pond  and  plunged  to  the  bottom.  A  few, 
only,  stuck  point  downward  into  the  floating  lily- 
pads,  like  javelins  in  a  warrior's  shield.  Examin- 
ing these  seeds,  I  found  that  each  was  like  a  rocket, 
with  pointed  head  and  long  stick,  arranged  evi- 
dently to  strike  the  water  point  downward.  Now 
it  is  a  known  fact  that  wild  rice  seed,  once  it  is 
dried,  will  no  longer  germinate ;  hence  all  these  pre- 
cautions are  to  make  sure  that  the  seeds  shall  be 
planted  underwater. 

SEEDS  DISPERSED  BY  BIRDS  AND  ANIMALS 

We  have  seen  how  plants  enlist  the  co-operation 
of  insects  to  carry  their  pollen,  but,  later  in  the 
season,  they  will  be  found  often  to  employ  larger 
and  stronger  creatures  to  bear  the  burden  of  their 
seeds,  fruits,  and  nuts.  Very  small  seeds,  it  is  true, 


SEED  SOWING  213 

are  carried  away  by  ants  to  their  lairs,  for  whose 
convenience,  it  is  said,  the  blood-root  grows  two 
little  handles  upon  its  seeds ;  but  birds  are,  perhaps, 
the  more  active  seed-sowers. 

Strawberries,  raspberries,  checker  and  partridge 
berries,  all  are  favourite  foods  for  birds;  but  their 
seeds,  with  woody  coverings,  are  indigestible  and 
are  dropped  under  trees  and  shrubs  where  they 
germinate  the  following  year.  Berries  like  those 
of  the  mistletoe  are  exceedingly  gummy,  so  that 
they  attach  to  the  bird's  beak  till  they  are 
wiped  off  upon  some  branch,  there  to  cling  and 
grow. 

Seeds  also  cling  to  the  muddy  feet  of  wild-fowl, 
for  transportation  free  and  far,  like  naughty  boys 
taking  a  "hitch"  behind.  The  following  observa- 
tions made  by  Darwin  are  illuminating: 

He  was  given  the  leg  of  a  red-legged  partridge, 
which  had  adhering  to  it  a  ball  of  earth  weighing 
six  and  a  half  ounces.  The  specimen  was  already 
three  years  old,  but  Darwin  soaked  the  earth, 
planted  it  under  a  bell-glass,  and  sprouted  82  young 
plants,  apparently  of  three  distinct  species. 

We  have  learned  that  water-plants  send  their 
seeds  downstream,  but  the  water-fowl  are  very 
likely  the  agents  which  carry  them  in  the  opposite 
direction.  Thus,  maybe,  the  fine  seeds  of  our  beau- 


214    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

tiful  cardinal  flower  were  carried  up  to  the  head- 
waters of  our  many  narrow  brooks  and  streams. 

EDIBLE  FRUITS  AND  SEEDS 

Most  berries  and  fruits  take  on  brilliant  and  at- 
tractive colours  as  they  ripen,  making  an  irresistible 
appeal  to  the  eye  as  well  as  to  the  appetite.  The 
reader  will  remember  the  dramatic  story  of  Buddha, 
who  came  face  to  face  with  a  mother  tiger,  famished 
and  madly  seeking  food  for  her  young,  and  how 
the  Prince,  making  a  supreme  sacrifice  of  his  own 
body,  permitted  the  tigress  to  devour  him,  know- 
ing full  well  that  he  should  have  another  reincarna- 
tion. This  legend  finds  a  striking  parallel  in  the 
lives  of  those  plants  which  offer  their  lucious  fruits 
to  be  eaten,  thereby  seeking  a  reincarnation  and 
renewal  of  life. 

The  rose  "pips"  and  hawthorn  "haws,"  the  bunch- 
berries  and  the  fruits  of  false  Solomon's  seal,  straw- 
berries, raspberries,  and  cherries  are  but  the  most 
common  and  familiar  examples  of  an  enormous 
class  of  showy  and  attractive  fruits. 

POISONOUS  FRUITS 

It  is  well  known  that  some  fruits  are  poisonous, 
and,  as  Nature  is  never  uselessly  and  vindictively 


SEED  SOWING  215 

cruel,  we  must  seek  some  explanation  that  shall 
show  these  toxic  berries  to  be  of  actual  service  to 
the  plant  in  its  struggle  for  existence.  A  very 
plausible  theory  is  that  the  poison  kills  birds  and 
small  animals  in  order  that  the  seeds  shall  grow 
in  a  soil  enriched  by  the  decaying  carcass. 

There  are  not  as  many  poisonous  fruits  in  our 
region  as  some  people  imagine.  A  bulletin  issued 
by  the  United  States  Government  on  the  subject 
mentions  but  three  to  be  avoided:  namely,  the 
nightshade,  Jimson-weed,  and  bittersweet,  but 
omits  to  mention  Jack-in-the-Pulpit,  which  is  said 
to  be  poisonous  to  birds,  if  not  to  man,  and  should 
never  be  risked.  The  purpose  of  the  poison  in 
Jack's  particularly  gorgeous  berries  is  singularly 
interesting.  Jack-in-the-Pulpit,  as  we  all  know, 
loves  to  dwell  in  moist  places,  and  he  wants  his  seeds 
to  be  scattered  in  swamps  and  near  river-brinks, 
and  he  seems  to  know  that  birds  who  eat  poisonous 
seeds  will  be  very  thirsty,  will  seek  the  waterside 
for  drink,  and,  perhaps  dying  there,  will  thereby 
plant  his  seeds  in  a  most  favourable  location. 

Nuts  may  roll  down  the  hillside,  or  be  carried 
by  freshets  to  new  localities,  but  undoubtedly  a  vast 
number  of  walnuts,  chestnuts,  and  acorns  are 
planted  by  squirrels.  These  little  animals,  besides 
forming  winter  stores,  have  a  way  of  planting  nuts 


216    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

one  by  one,  over  large  areas,  trusting  to  find  them 
again  by  the  guidance  of  their  instinct.  But  it  is 
certain  that  many  nuts  thus  planted  are  forgotten 
and  are  left  to  grow  into  stately  trees.  Apple-trees 
are  spread  in  a  curious  way.  The  squirrels  gather 
the  apples  and,  carrying  them  up  into  various  trees, 
jam  them  into  the  forks  of  branches.  I  have  thus 
seen  a  maple-tree  bearing  a  crop  of  wild  apples,  with 
one  apple  snugly  brooding  in  a  deserted  bird's 
nest.  The  fruit  will  decay  or  dry,  but  what  the 
squirrels  want  are  the  seeds,  and  some  of  them  they 
accidentally  let  fall. 


TRAMP  SEEDS 


Plants  use  still  another  scheme  to  induce  beasts 
and  even  men  to  carry  and  scatter  their  seeds.    The 


TRAMP  SEEDS 


burrs  and  ticks  and  all  the  annoying  things  which 
cling  to  our  clothes,  or  mat  the  hair  of  cattle  and 


SEED  SOWING  217 

the  wool  of  sheep,  are 
but  examples  of  this  op- 
portunist policy  of  the 
plants,  seeking  a  means 
to  send  forth  their  seeds 
into  far  fields  and  pas- 

MARTYNIA 

tures   new.      Returning 

from  a  walk,  we  can  gather  from  our  tweed 
suit  or  woollen  stockings  a  choice  collection  of 
seeds  of  burdock,  beggar-ticks,  agrimony,  or  bed- 
straw.  Some  of  these  tramp  seeds  are  shown  in 
the  adjoining  sketch.  The  Martynia,  or  unicorn- 
plant,  produces  perhaps  the  largest  of  any  of  these 
clinging  seed-vessels,  and  the  most  curious  in  ap- 
pearance. These  consist  of  a  recepticle  terminating 
in  a  pair  of  black  horns,  hard,  strong,  and  much 
curved.  In  size  and  appearance  they  seem  as  if 
they  must  have  been  shed  by  some  small  antelope. 
The  curved  points  catch  upon  any  being  who  passes, 
and  the  seeds  are  shaken  out  through  an  opening 
at  the  base,  where  the  horns  split  apart.  The 
Martynia  grows  in  Indiana  and  through  the  West 
to  northern  Mexico,  but  it  also  is  cultivated  and 
naturalised  northward. 

An  interesting  tale  is  told  of  a  royal  gift  which 
unintentionally  brought  about  seed-dispersal  as  its 
corollary.  A  buffalo  was  sent  to  the  King  of  Ter- 


218    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

nate,  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago, from  another  local- 
ity. In  the  hairy  tail  of 
the  buffalo  were  tangled 
numerous  needle-like  fruits 
of  a  beard-grass,  the  An- 
dropogon  acicularis.  These 
seeds  took  root  in  their  new 
environment  and  the  beard- 
grass  soon  spread  over  the 
entire  island.  As  I  was 
writing  the  present  chapter 
I  was  invited  to  inspect  a  beautiful  specimen  of 
a  cactus  which  had  just  arrived  in  town  from 
the  Mexican  Border.  I  found  a  few  rather 
inconspicuous  flowers,  crowning  a  huge,  cor- 
rugated dome,  green,  fleshy,  and  succulent.  The 
ribs  or  fins  of  the  dome  were  bristling  with 
rosettes  of  fierce  spines,  and  on  each  rosette  ap- 
peared a  cruel  hook.  The  spines  were  for  defence, 
and  would  discourage  the  approach  of  any  browsing 
animal,  but  the  hooks  were  for  another  purpose, 
and  were  not  so  cruel  as  they  seemed.  They  were 
much  longer  than  the  spines  and  could  fasten  them- 
selves into  the  hairy  coat  of  a  passing  animal,  and, 
holding  fast,  would  pull  away  from  the  parent 
stem,  bringing  with  them  a  little  fragment  of  the 


SEED  SOWING 


219 


plant,  also,  to  become  a  cut- 
ting that  would  sprout  wher- 
ever accident  should  plant  it, 
for  we  know  how  easily  frag- 
ments of  the  cacti  take  root 
from  cuttings. 

CATAPULT  SEEDS 

The  foregoing  methods  of 
seed  and  plant  dispersal  all 
depend  upon  some  outside 
agency,  but  there  are  many 
plants  so  self-reliant  that  they 
attend  to  their  own  seed-sow- 
ing, which  they  accomplish  by 
means  of  various  slings  and  catapults  of  their  in- 
vention. 

The  wild  geranium  as  it  "goes  to  seed"  develops 
its  pistil  into  a  long  cylinder,  inside  of  which  stiff 
springs  are  formed,  each  spring  connected  with  a 
small  seed-pod  at  the  calyx.  In  this  state,  the  seed- 
pod  and  calyx  strongly  resemble  a  miniature  candle 
in  a  candle-stick,  as  shown  in  the  sketch  on  the  left. 
When  sufficiently  ripe  and  dry,  however,  the  little 
springs  gain  force  enough  to  burst  out  of  their 
places  and  to  curl  up  suddenly,  thus  shooting  the 
seeds  off  in  every  direction  and  a  long  distance 


WILD  GERANIUM 


220    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 


away.  This  action  transforms  the  appearance  of 
the  seed-pod  completely,  and  we  now  see  it,  as  in 
the  sketch,  where  the  little  springs  are  curled  up 
all  around  the  central  axis. 

Several  of  the  Bean  family,  the  lupin,  vetch,  wis- 
taria, shoot  their  seeds  by  a  sud- 
den bursting  and  curling  of  their 
pods.  The  pods  are  made  up  of 
two  layers  of  tissue,  the  outer 
one  of  .which,  in  drying,  shrinks 
less  than  the  inner.  Thus  there 
is  a  tendency  to  curl  inward,  and 
when  the  stress  becomes  too 
great,  the  explosion  occurs.  The 
pod  opens  from  tip  to  stem,  its 
two  sides  curl  suddenly,  and  the 
seeds  are  ejected  with  force. 
The  change  is  most  magical,  for, 
at  a  touch,  we  behold  the  sim- 
ple, narrow  pod  suddenly  as- 
sume the  shape  of  a  pair  of  twisted  horns,  and  we 
hear  the  patter  of  dry  seeds,  falling  far  and  near. 
The  jewel  weed,  very  appropriately  called 
"Touch-me-not,"  acts  in  a  very  similar  manner, 
save  that  its  pod  curls  downward,  from  stem  to 
tip.  There  is  a  thick  axis  along  which  the  seeds 
grow,  surrounded  by  a  pod  resembling  a  small  bean- 


LUPIN 


SEED  SOWING 


221 


pod.  While  both  seeds  and  pods  are  still  green  the 
latter  separates  in  longitudinal  strips,  all  of  which 
are  ready,  at  the  slightest  touch,  to  curl  downward 
into  tight  coils.  The  action  is 
so  sudden,  the  flight  of  seeds 
so  amazingly  quick,  we  cannot 
tell  what  has  happened,  but  we 
hear  the  seeds  falling  like  rain- 
drops all  about,  and  we  see  the 
shreds  of  the  pod,  curled  up 
like  helical  watch-springs,  dan-  /^ 
gling  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
axis. 

Some  writers  say  that  few 
of  these  seeds  germinate,  but  I 
am  inclined  to  think  that  this 
is  an  error,  for  the  jewel-weed  grows  so  pro- 
fusely in  moist  places  that  it  makes  a  veritable 
tangle. 

The  Fraxinilla,  Dictamnus,  or  gas-plant,  forms 
a  very  pretty  seed-vessel  like  a  star-shaped  flower, 
whose  lining  becomes  five  small,  hard  pods,  one  in 
each  point  of  the  star.  These 
little  pods  act  very  much  like  lupin 
pods.  When  they  dry,  their  points 
curl  back,  and  all  their  contents 
are  hurled  forth  with  force. 


JEWEL-WEED 


FRAXINILLA 


222    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

SPIDER-FLOWER- 

Cleome-spinosa 

July-August 

A  curious  flower,  in- 
troduced from  the  trop- 
ics, flourishing  amaz- 
ingly in  our  gardens, 
and  often  escaping  into 
waste  places.  The  plant 
always  has  a  shabby, 

SPIDER-FLOWER 

unfinished  appearance, 

as  buds,  blooms,  and  spindling,  straggling  seed- 
vessels  seem  to  outstrip  the  foliage.  The  seed-pods 
are  borne  on  exceedingly  long  and  slender  stems. 
They  consist  of  two  very  loose  lids  enclosing  a  loop 
full  of  seeds.  The  two  lids  tend,  in  drying,  to  curl 
back  from  stem  to  tip,  which  they  do  with  violence, 
when  very  slightly  jostled,  throwing  the  many 
seeds  in  every  direction.  The  spider-flower  is 
worth  growing  for  the  mere  fun  of  seeing  the  pods 
explode. 

The  shooting  of  seeds  so  far  described  is  accom- 
plished by  a  genuine  catapult  movement  of  a  stiff 
spring,  or  springs,  held  in  tension  and  suddenly 
released.  But  another  way  of  shooting  seeds  is 
through  compression.  The  inner  lining  of  the  seed- 
vessel  shrinks  and  pinches  the  seed  till  it  "flips"  out, 


SEED  SOWING 


223 


WITCH-HAZEL 


exactly  as  a  cherry-pit 
is  "flipped"  between 
the  finger  and  thumb. 
The  operation  can  be 
studied  on  a  large  scale 
in  pods  of  the  witch- 
hazel.  For  a  whole 
year  the  little  round 
seed-vessels  have  been 

growing  and  perfecting  their  twin  charges  of  seed, 
when,  late  in  October,  they  split  across  and  open 
like  an  elfin  mouth.  Within,  we  see  two  divisions, 
each  with  a  hard,  brown  lining,  and  a  shining  black 
seed.  The  mouth  opens  wider,  the  lining  pinches 
together,  when,  without  warning,  the  seed  is 
"flipped"  and  gone.  Mr.  Gibson,  by  experimenting 
in  a  quiet  room,  found  that  the  witch-hazel  seeds 
could  fly  as  far  as  thirty  feet. 

The  pansy  and  violet  form  a  globular  seed-vessel 
which  later  splits  into  three  wide- 
ly spreading  seed-pods.  Then 
each  little  pod  dries  and  pinches 
its  closely  packed  contents,  till  at 
length  the  pressure  becomes  too 
strong  to  endure,  and  all  hop  out 
and  scatter. 
PANSY  The  wood-sorrel  forms  a  long, 


224    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

pointed  seed-vessel,  resembling  that  of  the  garden 
ochra  on  a  very  minute  scale.  Its  five  longitudinal 
divisions  are  shown  in  our  sketch  of  a  cross-section, 
and  these  open  outward  along  their  whole  length. 


WOOD-SORREL 

The  drying  and  shrinking  of  the  seed-vessel 
pinches  the  lines  of  seeds  till  they  escape  from 
their  contracting  prison-cells,  and  seek  freedom  in 
flight. 

In  Europe  grows  a  curious  plant,  a  member  of 
the  Gourd  family,  known 
as  the  squirting  cucumber. 
I  have  never  seen  it,  but  I 
find  the  description  of  its 
antics  exceedingly  interest- 
ing, as  given  by  Kerner. 
It  is  known  to  the  botan- 
ists as  Ecballium  elaterium. 
The  fruit  is  like  a  bomb 
charged  with  seeds  in  a 
soft,  mucilaginous  mass.  In 
the  walls  of  the  fruit  is  a 
layer  of  cells  under  great 

SQUIRTING  CUCUMBER  .  ... 

(After  Kerner)  tension,    Which    CXCrts 


SEED  SOWING 


225 


sure  upon  the  semi-fluid  contents.  The  stem  at- 
tachment projects  into  the  fruit  like  a  stopper. 
But  when  the  fruit  is  quite  ripe  it  separates  from 
this  stopper,  and  through  the  hole  thus  opened  the 
compressed  contents  are  ejected,  and  the  seeds  fired 
a  long  way. 

I  imagined,  and  fondly  hoped 
to  find,  that  our  wild  balsam- 
apple  would  display  similar  an- 
tics, but  I  have  studied  care- 
fully the  odd,  prickly  fruit  and 
find  that  it  clings  to  the  vines, 
but  opens  at  the  lower  extrem- 
ity to  drop  its  slippery  seeds 
.upon  the  ground. 

We  have  now  examined 
many  of  the  ways  whereby 
plants  have  spread.  Flying, 
jumping,  clinging,  swimming,  they  have  travelled 
incredible  distances,  and  have  sought  out  every 
available  spot  from  Pole  to  Pole.  But  not  alone 
by  short  and  uncertain  stages  have  they  travelled. 
The  grandest  and  mightiest  forces  of  Nature  have 
lent  their  aid  to  seed  and  plant  distribution,  and 
by  their  operation  we  can  explain  some  of  the  mys- 
terious migrations  of  plants,  and  their  appearance 


WILD  BALSAM-APPLE 


226    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

in  regions  far  asunder.  We  think  of  the  ocean 
as  a  vast  barrier,  yet  the  tidal  streams  may  bridge 
its  expanse  and  bear  the  flora  from  continent  to 
continent. 

Accordingly,  the  first  question  which  presents  it- 
self is  this:  Can  seeds  survive  immersion  in  sea- 
water,  and  for  how  long  a  time?  To  answer  this 
double  question,  Darwin  soaked  seeds  of  eighty- 
seven  varieties  of  plants  in  sea-water  for  twenty- 
eight  days  and  then  planted  them,  with  the  result 
that  sixty-four  kinds  sprouted.  Other  experiments 
of  like  nature  proved  that  14  per  cent,  of  seeds  and 
fruits  retained  their  vitality  in  salt-water  so  well 
that  they  could  be  carried  by  the  ocean  currents  for 
a  distance  of  924  miles,  and  grow  upon  a  distant 
land. 

Drifting  trees  often  carry  stones  and  earth  en- 
tangled in  their  roots,  and  thus  may  act  as  carriers 
of  seeds.  Land  birds,  with  their  crops  full  of 
seeds,  are  often  driven  out  to  perish  upon  the  ocean, 
and  their  bodies  become  argosies  freighted  with 
germs  of  flowers  and  weeds  that  will  germinate  on 
some  far-away  shore.  Icebergs  are  known  often  to 
carry  cargoes  of  earth  and  boulders,  with  sods, 
roots,  and  seeds.  Here  again  is  a  means  of  far  dis- 
semination. On  the  Azores  are  found  strange 


SEED  SOWING  227 

boulders  thus  transported,  and  also  numerous 
plants  brought  from  northern  regions.  Thus  Na- 
ture gives  her  children  a  chance  to  travel  the  wide 
world  and  seek  their  fortunes,  and  acclimatise  them- 
selves, if  they  can,  in  new-found  fields. 

But  another  mystery  of  the  flowers  appears  in 
the  presence  of  Alpine  flowers  on  mountain  tops 
of  Europe  and  America,  with  none  of  their  kind 
on  the  intervening  lowlands,  yet  bearing  a  relation 
with  the  Arctic  flora  in  regions  directly  north  of 
their  habitat.  Thus  plants  on  isolated  mountain 
peaks  of  the  United  States  and  Labrador  resemble 
the  Arctic  plants  of  the  Western  hemisphere,  and 
those  growing  in  Alps  and  Pyrenees  resemble  those 
of  the  Eastern,  and  many  are  common  to  both. 
The  strange  isolation  and  kinship  of  these  moun- 
tain plants  is  explained  as  follows : 

Before  the  Glacial  Period  a  warmer  climate  pre- 
vailed in  the  Northern  hemisphere  than  at  present, 
and  the  temperate  zone  reached  much  farther  north, 
so  that  plant  forms  of  that  zone  dwelt  farther  north 
and  peopled  a  part  of  what  we  now  call  the  Arctic 
continent,  and  flourished  uniformly  over  the  polar 
regions.  Then,  gradually,  great  fields  of  ice  and 
snow  pushed  southward  from  the  Pole  and  crept 
downward  from  mountain  peaks  to  verdant  val- 
leys. All  tender  and  temperate  plants  decamped 


228    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

and  moved  southward  before  the  icy  invasion,  just 
as  the  peoples  of  Europe  fled  before  the  invasion 
of  the  Huns,  but  those  Arctic  plants  inured  to  the 
cold,  and  loving  the  proximity  of  ice  and  snow,  re- 
treated in  a  more  orderly  fashion  and  formed  a 
rear-guard  against  the  advance. 

When  the  Glacial  Epoch  was  passing,  and  the 
frontier  of  ice  and  snow  was  withdrawing  north- 
ward, the  Arctic  flora  followed  closely  upon  the 
line  of  retreat,  or  climbed  to  the  cool  peaks  of  moun- 
tains. The  plants  of  more  tender  habits  spread 
around  the  bases  of  these  mountains  and  followed 
as  far  as  climate  would  permit.  Thus  colonies  of 
Arctic  stock  were  isolated  on  mountains,  yet 
through  long  ages  keep  their  close  resemblance  to 
kin  on  distant  ranges,  or  polar  plains.  The  less 
hardy  plants  which  had  moved  southward  could 
not,  on  returning,  traverse  high  and  cold  mountain 
barriers.  Hence,  we  see  in  Europe  that  the  Alps 
and  Apennines,  running  East  and  West,  were  a  bar 
to  progress  northward,  whilst  in  the  United  States, 
where  mountain  chains  run  from  North  to  South, 
no  such  barriers  are  opposed  and  we  can  thus  under- 
stand why  we  possess  so  much  richer  and  more 
varied  flora. 

The  epic  of  flower-wanderings  has  not  yet  been 
written.  We  should  like  to  know  how  it  came  about 


SEED  SOWING  229 

that  our  beloved  Wild  Flowers  of  the  Eastern 
States  are  like  those  of  Japan.  I  have  a  book  of 
Japanese  prints  of  flowers  which  might  be  used  to 
illustrate  an  American  botany.  The  migration  of 
Sliortia  from  Japan  to  one  little  patch  in  our  Al- 
leghanies  would  be  thrilling  to  peruse.  The  story 
of  its  discovery  by  Micheaux,  its  loss  for  a  century, 
and  its  rediscovery  are  told  most  entertainingly  by 
Miss  Lounsberry  in  "Southern  Wild  Flowers  and 
Trees." 

Courageously  and  through  long  ages,  and  in 
spite  of  many  vicissitudes,  our  lovely  Wild  Flowers 
have  survived,  and  I  wish  to  say  a  word  in  their 
defence  before  I  lay  down  my  pen. 

When  a  new  book  on  botany  appears  it  is  apt 
to  send  an  army  of  so-called  "flower-lovers"  charg- 
ing down,  uprooting,  and  exterminating  our  choic- 
est and  rarest  specimens.  Let  me  vehemently  ex- 
press the  hope  that  no  such  ravages  will  follow 
the  unveiling  of  the  "Mysteries  of  the  Flowers." 
Europeans  reproach  the  Americans  with  a  want  of 
the  sense  of  proportion,  and  what  can  we  say  in 
our  defence?  We  have  laid  waste  our  rarest  in- 
heritance. We  have  netted  nearly  every  trout, 
shot  most  of  our  game  and  many  song-birds  as 
well,  skinned  nearly  every  beaver,  otter  and  seal, 
exterminated  the  buffalo,  and  now  we  gather  our 


230    MYSTERIES  OF  THE  FLOWERS 

orchids  by  the  armful  and  pull  the  arbutus  by  the 
roots,  till  whole  counties  know  them  no  more. 

These  Wild  Flowers  are  Nature's  jewels,  and 
we  should  have  learned  that  an  excessive  display 
of  jewels  is  vulgar.  One  orchid  is  much  better 
than  a  dozen.  Its  beauty  can  be  enjoyed,  and  its 
long  and  distinguished  lineage  need  not  be  extin- 
guished, nor  the  efforts  and  progress  of  ages  wither 
in  our  hands.  To  study  the  mystery  of  a  flower, 
one  or  two  specimens  are  sufficient  for  dissection, 
supplemented  by  close  observation  of  growing  ones 
and  of  their  insect  guests.  In  order  to  make  the 
studies  of  the  rarer  flowers  for  this  volume,  I  have 
carried  my  outfit  for  many  a  mile  to  sketch  them 
where  they  grew.  I  beg  the  reader  likewise  to 
spare  our  vanishing  Wild  Flowers,  lest  they  follow 
the  fairies  and  disappear. 


TRAILING  ARBUTUS 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Acorus  calamus,  22 

Aesculus   hippocastanum,  48 

Alisma  plant  ago-aquatica,  42 

Allen,   Grant,   23 

Amarantus,  209 

Andromeda    ligustrina,    109 

Andropogon   acicularis,   218 

Anemone  quinque folia,  34 

Angelica,  72 

Angiospermous    Flowers,    165 

Anthers,  5 

Apios   tuberosa,   107 

Apocynum    androscemi  folium,  126 

Apple,  68 

Arethusa  bulbosa,  153 

Ariscema   triphyllum,   18 

Aristolochia  sipho,  119 

Arrow  Head,  30 

Arum   maculatum,   19 

Aruncus  Sylvester,  26 

Asclepias  syriaca,  120 

Asparagus,    16 

Azalea,   Clammy,  45 

Flame,  45 

Pink,  44 

Balsam  Apple,  29 
Baneberry,  66 
Barberry,   114,   178 
Bean   Family,   104 
Beard-Grass,  218 
Bee-Balm,  91 


Beech  Drops,  187 
Bellflower,   77 
Berberis  vulgaris,  114 
Birthroot,   49 
Black-Eyed   Susan,  98 
Blackberry,  176 
Bladderwort,  211 
Blazing  Star,  17 
Blue  Curls,  80 
Blue-Eyed  Grass,  50 
Bluet,  54 
Bog  Orchis,  Tall  White,  145 

"         "         Southern,  156 
Bonnier,  Gaston,  194 
Bouncing  Bet,  70 
Brassica  arvensis,  41 
Burbank,  179 
Burr-Reed,   172 
Butterfly-Weed,  126 

Cactus,  189,  218 
Calla  palustris,  22 

White,  23 

Calopogon  pulchellus,  15V 
Caltha  palustris,  40 
Campanula,  77,  177 
Canterbury-Bell,  79 
Cardinal  Flower,  95,  211 
Catch-Fly,    Night-flowering,   71 
Chamcelirium  luteum,  17 
Chelone  glabra,  84 
Chestnut,  168 


234 


INDEX 


Cleistogamous  Flowers,  185 

Clematis  virginiana,  24,  208 

Cleome  spinosa,  222 

Clover,   106 

Cohosh,  Blue,  66 

Collinsonia  canadensis,  65 

Composite   Family,   99 

Convolvulus  sepium,  37 

Corallorrhiza,   154 

Coral  Root,  154 

Corn,  170 

Cornus  florida,  36 

Cranesbill,  8,   66 

Cross  Fertilisation,  9 

Cycad,  199 

Cypripedium  Acaule,  133 

"  arietimim,  136 

"  candidum,  136 

"  hirsutum,  135 

"  parviflorum,  137 

Dalbardia,  186 
Daisy,  Ox-Eye,  100 
Darwin,  9,  194,  213,  226 
Desmodium  midiflorum,  108 
Devil's  Bit,  17 
Dichogamous  Flowers,  14,  57 
Dimorphic  Flowers,  55 
Depford  Pink,  180 
Dioecious  Flowers,  13 
Dogbane   Spreading,   126 
Dog-tooth  Violet,  176 
Dogwood,  36 
Duckweed,  180 
Dutchman's  Pipe,  119 

Echinocystis  lobata,  29 
Ecballium  elaterium,  224 
Eel  Grass,  26 
Elder,  41 


Epilobium  angustifolium,  67 
Epipactis,  147 
Equisetum,  190 
Eupatorium  purpureum,  96 
Euphorbia  pulcherrima,  116 
Evening  Primrose,  199 

Ferguson,  M.  C.,  167 

Figwort,  62 

Filament,  5 

Fire-Weed,  67,  199,  208 

Flag,  Blue,  86 

Flax,  57 

Forget-Me-Not,  43 

Frostweed,   186 

Foxglove,  Downy  False,  103 

Fraxinilla,  221 

Genista  tinctoria,  109 
Gentian,  177 

"          Alpine,  197 

"          andrewsii,  73 

"          Closed,  73 

"          crinita,  73 

"  lutea,  197 

Geradia  flava,  103 
Geranium,  Garden,  55 
"          maculatum,    66 

Wild,   66 
Gibson,  W.  H.,  65,  109,  156,  184, 

223 

Goat's  Beard,  26 
Gourd,  28 
Grape,  24 
Grass  Pink,  157 
Gray,  Asa,  60,  158 
Grew,  Nehemiah,  4 
Ground  Nut,  107 
Gymnospermous    Flowers,   164 
Gyrostachys,  149 


INDEX 


235 


Habenaria  dilatata,  145 

flava,  146 

"  Hookeriana,    144 

"  hyperborea,   145 

"  lacera,  147 

"  nivea,    156 

"  orbiculata,  142 

"  psycodes,   141 

Hardback,  36 

Heath  Family,  109 

Hedge  Bindweed,  37 

Hibiscus  moscheutos,  50 

Honey  Guides,   11 

Honeysuckle,  Trumpet,  46 

Houstonia  ccerulea,  54 

Hooker's  Orchis,  144 

Hop  Vine,  169 

Horse-Balm,  65 

Horse-Chestnut,  48 

Hypoxis  hirsuta,  42 

Hypericum,  35 


Impatiens  biflora,  117 
Indian  Pipe,  206 
Iris  versicolor,  86 


Jack-in-the-Pulpit,  215 
Jewel- Weed,   117,   186,   220 
Jim  son-Weed,  102 
Joe  Pye  Weed,  96 

Kalmia  lati folia,  47,  112 
Kerner,  195,  224 

Laurel,  Great,  47 

"       Mountain,  47,  112 
Lady's  Slipper,  206 

Pink,   133 


Lady's  Slipper,  Ram's  Head,  136 

Showy,   135 

"  "         White,  136 

"  "         Yellow,  137 

Lady's  Tresses,  149 

Lemna,  180 

Lily,  21,  176 

Limtm  grandiftorum,  57 

Linum  ftavium,  57 

Linnaeus,  4 

Lion's  Foot,  98 

Liparis  lili folia,  154 

Lobelia  cardinalis,  95 

Pale  Spiked,  94 
"         spicata,  94 

Lonicera  caprifolium,  46 

Lords  and  Ladies,  19 

Loosestrife,  Purple  Spiked,  57 

Lounsberry,  A.,  229 

Lubbock,  194 

Ludwig,  F.,  181 

Lungwort,  Virginia,  43 

Lupin,  220 

Lythrum  salicaria,  57 

Male  Berry,  109 
Mallow,  Common,  35 

Roundleaf,  178 
Malus,  68 

Malva  rotundifolia,  35,  178 
Maple,  207 

Marsh  Marigold,  40,  211 
Martynia,  217 
Matthews,  Schuyler,  31 
Mechanism  of   Flowers,   82 
Mertensia  virginica,  43 
Micheaux,  229 
Milkweed,  120,  208 
Mimulus  ringens,  90 
Mint  Family,  79 


236 


INDEX 


Mistletoe,  213 
Moccasin  Flower,  133 
Monarda,  ill,  195 
Monkey-Flower,  90 
Monoecious  Flowers,  28 
Mullein,  Greater,  61 
Miiller,  H.,  125,  194 
Mulberry,  172 
Mustard,  Field,  41 
Myosotis  palustris,  43 

Nettle,  172 

Nicotia/na  longiflora,  69 
Night  Shade,  102 
Nymphcea  advena,  64 

Orchids,  128 

Orchis,  Hooker's,  144 

Orchis  rotundifolia,  140 
"       Round-leaved,   140 
"       Small,  146 
"       spectabilis,  137 
"       Tall  Green,  145 

Orchis,  Tall  White,  145 

Oswego  Tea,  91 

Ovule,  4 

Oxalis,  57 

Palm,  199 
Pansy,   100,  223 
Partridge    Berry,   56 
Pea,  Sweet,   105 
Pear,  68 
Pelletory,  172 
Pepper-Box  Seeds,  20.* 
Peppergrass,  210 
Perfect  Flower,  33 
Pickerel- Weed,  57 
Pine,   165 
Pistil,  5 


Pitcher-Plant,  51 
Plantago  lanceolata,  59 

major,  60 
Plantain,  172 

"         Common,   60 

"         English,   59 

Water,  42 
Platycodon,  79 
Pogonia  ophioglossoides,  8,  151 

"          verticillata,  152 
Poinsettia,  116 
Pollen,  2,  55,  199 
Pollination,  9,  201 
Polygala,  Fringed,  186 

"        sanguinea,  81 
Pond  Lily,  Yellow,  64 
Pondweed,  211 
Pontedcria,  57 
Poppy,'   205 

Prenanthis  serpentaria,  98 
Primrose,  57 

Proterandrous  Dichogamy,  66 
Proterogynous  Dichogamy,  59 
Prunella  vulgaris,  79 
Purple  Fringed  Orchid,  141 
Pyrola  elliptica,  48 
Pyrus,  68 

Quaker  Lady,  54 
Queen  Anne's  Lace,  210 

Ragged   Fringed  Orchid,  147 
Ragweed,   171 
Rain  Shelters,  11,  192 
Raspberry,  Virginia,  176 
Rattlesnake  Plantain,  147 
Rhododendron   hirsutum,   199 
maximum,  47 
nudiftorum,    4 
"  viscosum,  45 


INDEX 


237 


Rib  Grass,  59 
Richardia,  23 
Rich  weed,  64 
Riley,  C.  V.,  182 
Ripple  Grass,  59 
Rose   Family,  176 
Rose  of  Jericho,  210 
Rose  Pogonia,  151 
Robertson,  Prof.,  64 
Round-leaved  Orchis,  144 
Rue,  Tall  Meadow,  25 
Russian   Thistle,  210 


Spiderwort,  36 
Spirea  tomentosa,  36 
Sprengel,  Theory  of,  6 
Squirting  Cucumber,  224 
Stamen,  5 

Star  Grass,  Yellow,  42 
Steeple   Bush,  36 
Stonecrop,  211 
Stigma,  5 
Strawberry,  8 
Swamp  Rose-Mallow,  50 
Sweet  Flag,  22 


Sage,  92 
Sagittaria,  30 
Saint  John's  Wort,  35,  180 
Salvia  offjcinalis,  92 
Sambucus,  canadensis,  41 
Saponaria  officinalis,  70 
Sarracenia  purpurea,  51 
Scrophularia   marilandica,   62 
ScuteUaria,  79 
Seed   Dispersal,  203 
Self-Fertilised  Flowers,  176 
Self-Heal,  79 
Shinleaf,  48 
Shortia,  229 
Showy  Orchid,  137 
Silene  noctiflora,  71 
Sisyrinchium    angustifolium,    50 
Shepherd's  Purse,  179 
Skunk  Cabbage,  211 
Snake-Mouth  Pogonia,  151 
Soapwort,  70 
Solanum  dulcamara,  102 
Solomon's  Seal,  180 
Spanish  Bayonet,  181 
"        Dagger,  189 
Sphagnum   Moors,  51 
Spider-Flower,  222 


Tape  Grass,  26 
Tecoma  radicans,  88 
Teasel,  191 

Thalictrum  poly gamum,  25 
Thorns,  189 
Tick  Trefoil,  108 
Tickle-Grass,  210 
Timothy,  168 

Tradescantia  virginiana,  36 
Trichostema  dickotomum,  80 
Trillium,  6,  49,  176 
Trimorphic  Flowers,  57 
Trumpet-Creeper,  88 
Tobacco,  Long-Flowered,  69 
Touch-Me-Not,   117 
Tubercled    Orchis,    146 
Tulip  Tree  Flower,  6 
Tumble  Weed,  209 
Turtle-Head,  84 
Twayblades,  Lily-leaved,  154 

Umbelliferae,  72 

Vallisneria  spiralis,  26 
Venus'  Looking-Glass,  79,  186 
Verbascum  thapsius,  61 
Veronica,  211 


238 


INDEX 


Vetch,  220 
Violet,   100,  185 
Wake-Robin,  49 
Water  Arum,  22 
Water  Lily,  White,  35 
Whin,  109 

Whitlow  Grass,  179,  186 
Whorled   Pogonia,   152 
Wild  Balsam  Apple,  225 
Wild  Bean,  186 
Wild  Carrot,  210 
Wild  Geranium,  219 
Wild  Rice,  211 


Williams,  Dr.  H.  S.,  105 
Willow,  16 

Willow-Herb,  Great,  67 
Wind  Fertilisation,  162 
Windflower,  34 
Wistaria,  220 
Witch  Hazel,  223 
Wood  Anemone,  34,  179 
Wood,  Prof.  A.,  125 
Wood  Sorrel,  57,  186,  224 


Yucca,  181 


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